Bladed Horizon
by Saraak
Summary: Illya loves her family. Everyone in the Emiya Household was precious to her and she'd do anything to be with them longer. However, that wasn't something that her dying body would allow. So instead, Illyasviel's last wish was to at least play a certain game with Shirou, Sakura, and Rin – her favorite game – Elder Tale... So why are they waking up in the ruined streets of Akihabara?
1. Chapter 1: Elder Tale

**Here it is, the first Log Horizon and Fate Stay Night crossover... wait what.**

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

 **Beta: Worldbringer of Joseun**

* * *

Illya was smiling, a somewhat unnerving thought when her housemates realized what the date was, but it didn't bother her at all. She had come to terms with her short lifespan ages ago.

It was a year after the grail war had ended. Shirou, Rin, and Sakura had ended up living through it all. Illya didn't remember how, nor did she want to. It was a miracle that they lived through it, and she didn't want to waste time expecting a miracle.

After the war had ended, they had all tried to go about their normal lives. The key word being try. They didn't completely return to their usual lives, in fact, they could say that their lives ended up better.

Sakura left the Matou home and began living with Shirou and herself. Zouken was killed alongside Shinji so there was no one left in that old mansion anyway. Illya didn't really remember how they died, but she didn't particularly care for those side characters.

Speaking of Rin, she had continued playing the role of an honor student and moved in with them too. Most likely because she wanted to reconnect with her sister… that, and be with Shirou.

Shirou, on the other hand, had vouched to stay at home and take care of Illya and Sakura. He had forsaken his Ideals when he declared that he would let thousands die to save Sakura. He now worked in the nearby Copenhagen, owned by Hotaruzuka Otoko, an old high school classmate of Taiga,

"Illya," Shirou voiced out within the dining room, "Why did you call us?"

 _Ah right._

She had gotten distracted with her thoughts of the past…

"Rin, your flight is in a week, right?" Illya asked.

"Yeah that's right, midget. What about it?" She asked curiously.

Finding it within herself, Illya ignored the midget comment and continued, "You all have been busy lately, so I've been hoping that we could spend some time together!"

Well, other than when they're in the bedroom. Both Sakura and Rin really didn't know how to shut up. The walls weren't thick enough to block _that_ out.

"Didn't we go on a picnic last week though?" Shirou asked, scratching his head at the request.

"Sakura was the one who planned the outing." Illya reminded them, "I want to plan what we'll do next!"

"That sounds fair, Illya-chan," Sakura concluded, "What is it that you want to do?"

Don't mess this up Illya…

With a somewhat nervous intake of air, an oddity that all the tenants noticed, she spoke. "I wanted all of us to play a game together… A computer game."

"Eh?"

Most of them widened their eyes, which was not unwarranted. Shirou had only bare surface knowledge on how to use a computer, having spent a majority of his youth to become an ally of justice.

Sakura had never seen one before in her lifetime, her entire household was like a void of fun and games. By Zelretch, Rin didn't know how to use any piece of electronics even if she was given years to learn!

They still remembered when they had a TV.

 _Had_ being the keyword.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Sakura nervously asked, sending a not so subtle glance to her sister. Said sister didn't miss the action and pouted with a frown, "None of us really know how to play computer games."

"Understatement of the century right there, Sakura…" Rin muttered, more annoyed at herself than her sister.

"I know that, Sakura…" Illya murmured, embarrassment slowly growing within her. However, she did not back down and pushed forward, "… but it's something I want to do! Rin is going away on a flight, Shirou is too busy at Copenhagen, and even you're too busy studying for a teaching degree!"

Rin definitely had a flight to the Clock Tower was due a few days from now. She had managed to earn a scholarship to learn under the Lord El-Melloi II, which was a great achievement by itself. While the man was not a notable magus in the traditional sense, his pupils always seemed to end up making names for themselves.

That last bit, however, was actually the surprise of the century. Sakura had announced it a few months ago. Wanting to teach children, particularly those in elementary school, was an odd choice considering how her life went until the Grail War happened. Then again, her naturally caring and motherly disposition would be great for kids.

"We can all play tomorrow!" Illya exclaimed, "There's an internet cafe nearby with the game installed! We can make your characters today and we can start playing tomorrow!"

Both Rin and Sakura still looked somewhat uneasy. Shirou though, had the picture-perfect face of resignation. "Okay let's do it," He said, dragging two curious looks from the sisters. He shrugged in response, "It'll just be for this week, right?"

"Yes!" Illya cheered. She could not describe the smile she had on her face, mostly because she couldn't see it. "Wait here, I'll grab the laptop!"

As Illya scurried away to her room, Shirou sighed as the looks that Rin and Sakura were sending him grew more unnerving.

He sent them wry stares. "Let's just humor her. Even if we don't have much fun, we can at least say that we got to spend more time with her."

Rin sighed and sucked in her teeth. "Fine… I owe that midget anyway."

None of them wanted to admit the real reason they were humoring her… It hurt too much to do so. They lived with Illya for so long that it was hard to imagine a life without her.

They didn't want to acknowledge the fact that her body was destroying itself. They didn't want to acknowledge that she would disappear. They didn't want to acknowledge that she would–

"I'm back!" Illya shouted, a somewhat high maintenance laptop in her hands. None of them had any idea how she managed to obtain such a thing, but they thought it was best to not even question it. "I already opened up Elder Tale! Let's make your characters!"

With a collective sigh, they walked around the table and sat next to Illya, who couldn't help the smile that grew on her face. They assumed Elder Tale was the name of the game, but they had no idea what kind of game it was.

Speculation was all they can give.

"So, who's going to go first?" Rin asked, not looking too particularly thrilled.

Illya smirked mischievously, "I choose Onii-chan!"

"Me?!"

Illya's quick and repetitive nods all but commanded Shirou to follow her bidding. He took the seat next to Illya, but that changed when Illya jumped onto his lap with the laptop. In response, Rin wasn't annoyed as she would have been had it been during the Grail War.

Why would she be? His heart already belonged to both her and Sakura so there was no need to be angry.

It didn't help the pout on Rin's face though.

"So… how does this work?" Shirou asked, placing his hand on the mouse pad and clicked on things randomly, openly being confused on the constant changing facial and physical changes happening on the 'man' standing in the center of the screen.

Illya giggled at his clueless clicking. "First you need to decide on a character class that you'll enjoy. Over at the top right is where you can choose the classes. Since Onii-chan uses swords, I recommend the swashbuckler! That class has lots of dual wielders last time I checked."

Secretly, Illya applauded herself for the clever choice.

"Well, if you say so," Shirou muttered, not really caring overall for what he was going to pick, he was humoring her after all. "I assume the next one is the one below this… Race?"

"I don't see how running a marathon is related to a computer game," Rin blurted out.

"Not _that_ kind of race, Rin! Race means that it's the species you're going to play as!" Illya scolded, "There are a lot of races in Elder Tale. They all have their own specializations, like Elves doing better in archery or magecraft while Dwarfs are more for physical tanking or heavy fighters."

"What about that cat looking thing?" Rin asked, peeking over Shirou's right shoulder while Sakura did the same for the left shoulder.

"That race is Werecat, basically a bipedal cat," Illya said.

"Really? Looks weird though…" Rin muttered, which made Illya snort in response.

"If any of the Werecat players heard you, they'd be lynching you at a stake. There are some guilds that only allow Werecat players." Illya snobbishly explained.

"I'll lynch you at a stake you little–"

"What's a guild?" Sakura asked, thankfully interrupting her sister by pulling on her cheek,

"It's like an organization of players," Illya explained, "Many players can gather and work together under a guild towards a common goal."

"For instance?" Rin prompted.

"For example, DDD is the name of a guild that deals with monsters in dungeons. Another would be The Rodrick Firm who help sell items in the game, like a little economy. Think of it like the Clock Tower, Atlas Academy, and the Wandering Sea."

Rin nodded with some understanding, although finding confusion on how a game would have an economy.

Thankfully, Shirou had gone the generic route and picked Human for simplicity's sake. Illya took the reigns from there, customizing the character until it looked exactly like how Shirou did in real life… to a frightening degree…

"We made sure to lock the doors at night, right?" Rin muttered to Sakura, who nodded in response with a similarly concerned face as well, but what they didn't know was that there was a peeping hole Illya had made with a screw.

"Illya, why are you making it look like me?" Shirou asked,

"You guys aren't used to navigating an online world," Illya explained, "So this will make it easier for us to find each other when we log in! MMORPG's are often flooded with players so it'll be hard to find each other."

They could see the logic in that statement and nodded in understanding. Shirou still had a question, "What's an MMORPG?" he asked.

"It stands for 'Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game'," Illya cheerfully explained, "Its a large scale game that has players from all over the world!"

"The world?" Shirou muttered, "Wouldn't that overload the servers though if there are that many people?"

Illya blinked, "I'm surprised you know what a server is…"

"It came up in a test," Rin responded for him, to which he nodded in confirmation.

Illya held back a chuckle, "That's true, that's mainly why most MMORPG's split their servers for every country. We're going to play on the Japanese server."

"I see…" Shirou muttered, noticing how Illya smiled. For whatever reason she was smiling, he didn't actually care what it could be. As long as she was happy, that was all that mattered.

"… Just going to name the character… and that's done!" Illya exclaimed, sending rapid types on the screen until a new blank page appeared. No one was sure what she did, but at least she was fast at whatever _it_ was.

Illya, on the other hand, was just glad that 'EMIYA' was an available name.

"Rin, it's your turn! Pick a Class and a Race and I'll make it quick!"

"Saber Class."

"That's not one of the classes Rin!"

"But it's still a class, right?" Rin complained before muttering minor curses and complaints, "Fine then, Caster class?"

Illya gave Rin a long, cold, hard stare before turning back to the laptop, "… I'll just make you a Sorcerer class. What Race are you going to choose?"

"… I don't like the way you're glaring at me midget–"

"Nee-san."

"Fine, fine! Pick the Race that helps me with magic, are you happy now Sakura?"

With a happy nod from Sakura, Illya clicked on Rin's race with a slightly evil smirk.

Illya had chosen the Ritian Race. At first glance, it was apparent that it had one of the highest affinities with magic, but it's obscenely low HP stat would make Rin die more often than not early on. Illya was definitely going to enjoy screwing with her tomorrow.

"Hey midget, you got my appearance wrong," Rin complained, "Do I look like I have tattoos on my face to you– Hey! Why is my chest size that small!?"

Despite her inexperience with technology, her eyes narrowed on what Illya was doing to her 'character'. Rin had an odd focus towards things like that. Illya thought it was some kind of complex when compared to her… 'little' sister.

At least Rin can still grow some, Illya was older than all of them but she was the shortest and thus treated younger than them. It wasn't fair, damn it.

Shirou sighed at her, "Illya…"

The girl pouted and made sure that Rin's breast size wasn't as flat as a board, "You guys are no fun sometimes." She complained, "I can't remove those tattoos, Rin. The Ritian's have those on as a racial trait, but I can change the tattoo's appearance if you want."

"Anything that's not hideous on my face," Rin said, eyes tracking as Illya went through all the preset choices– "That one! The tattoo number thirty-something."

"Thirty-three?" Illya asked, widening her eyes slowly as she saw the light indigo tattoo expand out from under her eyes, making them look like war markings. It was honestly somewhat fitting for a fiery tsundere like Rin.

After Illya inwardly sighed in relief that she didn't say that last comment out loud. She saved and named the character 'T0hsaka'. Tohsaka wasn't available for some reason, so Illya replaced the 'o' in her name with a zero.

"Sakura, it's your turn now!"

"Hmm… Let's see," The purple haired beauty muttered, "I don't think I'll enjoy fighting very much…"

Fighting was the last thing on her mind after all, even after a year had passed since the war ended. She didn't want anything to ever remind her of it.

"That's okay, Sakura!" Illya said, "There are a few classes that focus on healing allies so they'll be perfect for you." She opened up the class list, "There's the Cleric, Druid, and Kannagi. Each of them have their own unique perks so choose wisely! If you want me to explain what those perks are, just ask me!"

"I don't think a description will be needed…" Sakura muttered as she rubbed her chin, "How about the one with a cute plant on it?"

"The Druid class. This class is pretty good at healing over a long period of time." Illya informed, clicking on the plant icon seeing as it was the only one with that description. "Next is Race. I'd say choose one that's more magically inclined like Rin."

"I suppose it would be boring if I chose the same Race as Nee-san, wouldn't it?" Sakura jested lightly, "Is there another one that's good at magic?"

"There's the Foxtail race, it gives you fox ears and a tail. It's cute, but there are some long-term negatives that most players don't like." Illya mentioned.

"It'll be fine though, Illya-chan," Sakura reminded, "We're only going to be playing for a few days, not a whole year."

Sakura wished she could take back those words when she noticed Illya momentarily wobble her lips. Luckily the white-haired girl ignored it in favor of making Sakura's character look like her. She ran into problems with the additional appendages, but in her opinion, it made Sakura cuter.

It was too bad that the real Sakura didn't have a fluffy tail.

"Wouldn't you want to tap that, Shirou?" Rin teased, shoving her elbow into him slightly. The man in question struggled to keep himself from blushing at her teasing. In truth, he felt no attraction to the 3d-object on the screen, he preferred real people like Rin and Sakura.

Illya typed in the name 'S4KUR4', because the common name Sakura had already been taken.

"Name the character and… done!" Illya proclaimed with raised arms. She leaned back and let out a loud sigh at her accomplishment.

This was great! They would gather tomorrow, they would play Elder Tale… and they would make memories!

Illya's joy quickly turned into a yawn, which Sakura was no stranger in noticing. She turned to face the wall clock. "It's gotten pretty late, Illya. You need to rest."

Illya pouted, she did not like being treated as a child, granted her body was the same as a child's and required the same care a child body would, but she was nineteen in mentality. It was just degrading!

"Fine~…" Illya muttered as she hopped off Shirou's lap and made her way to her bedroom. She poked her head out of the doorway with a minor glare, "Don't forget about tomorrow!"

She retreated quickly back to her room, which left the others to stare at the doorway she had left by.

It was unfair. Someone like Illya deserved so much more than to die… There were only a few days left until she died. They wanted to curse the Einzberns for doing this to Illya without caring. It was heinous, disgusting, and… so magus-like that it hurt to admit.

Shirou winced as he rubbed his left arm,

"Senpai?"

"Is the arm acting up again?" Rin asked worriedly.

Shirou shook his head, "Not really, it just twitched. The Shroud of Martin is keeping it in place."

While both Rin and Sakura didn't really believe him, they merely nodded and made their way to the bedroom. They didn't want to think about Shirou's own limited time as much as Illya's limited time. Thinking about one of them dying hurt, however thinking about both of them dying was worse.

They didn't know how they were going to deal with Illya's death once it happens or Shirou's, however, one thing was for certain on their minds. They were going to make sure that Illya enjoyed tomorrow.

There was no doubt in their minds.

* * *

When everyone went to bed, Illya remained in her own room. Normally she'd be sleeping with Shirou _(not in that way)_ , but she was too excited.

She opened up Elder Tale with her laptop and moved her character out of the Ninetail Dominion. Fuyuki was located in Kyushu, which in Elder Tale translated to the player city Nakasu, within the Ninetail Dominion. Elder Tale's landscape mimicked the real world, the only difference being the size being halved overall.

Illya didn't like Nakasu. It was just… too gloomy there. Everyone seemed so serious all the time, always thinking about how to get the best time in raids, obtaining rare or legendary items, the best leveling strategy, the best build for their characters.

She got enough of that attitude from the Einzberns.

That, and Nakasu wasn't a very 'new player friendly' starting town.

She wanted it to be a fun and heart-warming experience for them all. So once her character was in Akihabara, the city that had more players simply playing for fun rather than bigger goals, she logged out and started to do the same for the other's characters.

Normally she'd want them to experience the tutorial for themselves, but then they'd be in Formosa, which was the starting area for all beginner players once they made their accounts. It would take an hour or two to complete the tutorial, after that they would be moved into the player city Nakasu. She really didn't like that city.

So instead, Illya opted to complete the tutorials for them.

It was a perfect idea! They'd be relying on her for everything. They wouldn't leave her while in the game – not that they'd know how to even control a character because MMO's have a lot of buttons to press – so that meant she could baby them all the way. Not the other way around!

She could imagine it now! Shirou asking where to buy weapons! Rin killing herself with a slime! Sakura healing while she still had full health! Rin killing herself to a wolf– The scenarios she imagined were all so funnily bad that she laughed at them.

 _Silently_ laughed. Illya didn't want to wake them up at all.

She wouldn't touch their class skill trees at all, they could make their own decisions about that themselves.

They'd thank her for it later, there was no doubt in her mind about that.

The scolding she would get from staying up all night playing Elder Tale would totally be worth the effort.

* * *

The rustling of grass.

Falling of leaves.

The sound of gravel grinding beneath his feet.

Shirou opened his eyes suddenly and gazed at the world around him. The sun was high in the sky, obscured ever so slightly by the clouds. There even were ruined buildings covered in moss around him.

 _Where in the world was he?_

He didn't know, wherever he was it looked like a small clearing. He had never even left his bed even when Sakura and Rin had crawled in–

"Damn it! Where the hell am I?!"

 _Rin!_

Shirou turned to the ruined building where he heard her voice and took off in a sprint.

"Rin!" He shouted as he entered the building, but frowned in confusion when he didn't see anyone nearby. He gazed towards a stairwell and took off towards it.

Once he reached the top, he was greeted by the familiar sight of Rin's common twin tails, although they seemed slightly longer than before. She was wearing the same clothes he was wearing, although they seemed more tailored for the female body, showing just a bit of her hips off.

"Rin? Is that you?" He asked, slightly unsure.

Rin, or at least who he assumed was Rin, turned around and gave him the most relieved sigh she had seen her give since the grail war, "Shirou! I thought I was the only one here…" She muttered in relief.

She was definitely Rin, Shirou had no doubt about it anymore.

However, her relief slowly disappeared when she stared at him in confusion. "Where's Sakura?"

Shirou shook his head as he slowly walked up towards her, "I don't know, I only woke up here a less than a minute ago. She might be nearby." He answered.

"Then there's no time to waste you idiot!" She shouted furiously, although Shirou could sense the worry in her tone. Rin swerved pass him and took off down the stairs he had climbed up.

Shirou let out a soft sigh of resignation as he made to follow her.

"Sakura! Are you here?!" Rin shouted outside, running out the building and off into the small clearing. She stumbled a few times for some reason, most likely nearly tripping on a few rocks. "Can you hear me?!"

"Nee-san?"

Rin spun towards the source of the voice in relief, "Sakura! You're okay– Geh?!"

Shirou had caught up to Rin. Before he could ask what was wrong, he blinked at the sight before him.

"Sakura… Are you alright?" Shirou asked, slowly approaching Sakura with a worried expression. "You don't feel anything… off?"

Sakura herself was confused and took step towards him, "What are you talking about Senpai…?"

Suddenly, Sakura jumped slightly as something brushed against her feet.

It was a tail.

A fluffy fox tail.

"Kyaa–!"

"Sakura! Wait a minute hold still!"

While Rin was trying to keep Sakura from moving, it didn't do much seeing as the poor girl was panicking from the sudden new appendage. Shirou himself was more focused on the fact that in addition to the fluffy fox tail she had, there was a pair of fox ears atop her head in addition to her normal ears, twitching and flexing randomly.

"Nee-san! What's going on?! Why do I have a tail?! Where are we?!"

"Calm down Sakura!" Shirou decided to intervene, raising his arms and grabbing her shoulders in comfort, "We're just as confused as you, but panicking isn't going to get us anywhere."

Sakura held a hand to her chest and took a few momentary breaths to calm down. She sent Shirou a thankful gaze but snapped towards Rin in confusion soon after.

"Nee-san? Since when did you get a tattoo?"

"A what?!" Rin rubbed her face to try to feel for it, "I can't feel it! Where's a mirror when we need one?!" She gazed at her forearm for the first time and widened her eyes, "M-My crest?! Where's my family crest?! Why are these weird tattoos here instead damn it?!"

Shirou grabbed Rin's shoulder this time. Now Rin was panicking too! "Calm down Rin! It's not the end of the world–"

"It might as well be the end of the world!" She exclaimed while pointing all around her. "Look around you! The buildings look like they've been ruined for decades! I can't perform my magecraft as well as before without my crest! Don't tell me Gaia finally snapped and killed off humanity!"

"While that _might_ be true, we can't think rationally unless we calmly think about the situation." Shirou chided. "I also doubt that Gaia has the power to do that while Alaya is here."

Assuming Alaya was _still_ here.

While Rin looked like she still had something to say, she calmed down while looking balefully at their surroundings. "This is too much… who in the world would have the ability to pull something like this off? The only one I know of is either Zelretch or the Blue. I haven't been contacted by the old troll yet and I haven't been near him long enough to be subjected to his pranking tendencies."

Sakura tilted her head in thought, "Maybe the Blue sent us forward in time?"

"The same situation, the Blue doesn't know us well enough to willingly do this…" Rin muttered, "It's also even more implausible actually. She doesn't have the ability to add body parts on you either."

Upon being reminded of her extra appendages, Sakura gave the tail an experimental swish, "It feels weird, but not unnatural. I didn't notice it until it brushed up my leg."

"Even when an additional body part is added, you should still be struggling to manipulate it…" Rin muttered, "Damn it! None of this makes any sense! The only one normal around here is Shirou! He doesn't have any new body parts or tattoos–" Rin widened her eyes, "Quick Sakura, take off his pants! His size might have changed!"

"RIN!"

"NEE-SAN!"

"It's a valid concern! You want to check it out too, Sakura!"

Sakura at least had the decency to blush at the insinuation but remained stalwart against her sisters' wishes.

Rin huffed at the reaction, "Fine, I'll do it myself!"

Shirou blinked once before leaping back and raising his arms in defense, "Rin, wait a moment– stop!"

"Just sit still and– woah!"

Luckily, Shirou leapt forward and caught Rin before she had a painful fall. The rocks in the clearing would make great seats but not so good cushions for impact. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah… fine. It's weird though. Like I'm trying to step too short and end up too far."

"What?" Shirou didn't understand whatsoever, much to Rin's displeasure.

"Nee-san," Sakura called with a raised hand, "Were you always the same height as Senpai?"

It took a few moments for her insinuation to register, but when it did both Shirou and Rin stood and checked each other out. They had perfect eye level view of each other.

"This is… odd," Shirou admitted,

"So not only do I have tattoos, but I've grown taller." Rin muttered, "I have mixed feelings about this…"

Sakura chuckled, "At least you can say that you're truly the elder sister now, Nee-san."

It was true. She was taller than Sakura now, for some reason.

Rin smiled in response, "I guess you're right about that…" Her eyes narrowed and took a clear glance at Sakura. "You know what…? You look like that Foxtail race that the midget talked about…"

Shirou and Sakura widened their eyes, the thought of that only now just occurring to them.

"Are we in the bodies of the characters that Illya made?" Shirou hypothesized.

"That doesn't even make sense!" Rin exclaimed, refuting her own observation. "That was from a game! A non-magic game that has no possible way to alter reality to this degree. It's just a coincidence!"

"Nee-san, you have the same tattoos on your face as the character did."

"Coincidence! Shirou possibly has the same body as before!"

"Possibly?" Shirou asked.

"We still didn't check your third leg."

"NEE-SAN!"

"Fine fine, I'll check his body out later," Rin muttered. She gazed around the clearing, "Still though, this is one big clearing. You could fit a lot of people here."

"I guess so…" Shirou trailed off, staring off into the distance. He was actually staring down the only path out of the clearing which Sakura and Rin acknowledged. "We still have a problem though."

"And what's that?" Rin asked,

"Illya."

Within a few seconds Rin was smacking her face hard. "Shit! We were literally just talking about her! Damn it, maybe she's also here! Illya–!"

A hand grabbing Rin's shoulder and pulling her back interrupted her.

"Get back! Something is coming!"

Shirou's sudden cry made Rin stumble back as he stepped towards the clearing exit, raising both his hands and called upon his Prana. He traced his favored Kanshou and Bakuya in order to face the coming threat.

Sakura hid behind both Shirou and Rin, having no proper magic spells to speak of without the aid of a corrupted Grail. Rin held her hand out in her signature Gandr pose, ready to unleash the curse upon whoever Shirou was staring at, despite the fact that her magic crest was absent.

From the exit of the clearing, a being in heavy armor entered, stumbling towards them with visible effort. Its gender was ambiguous and the helmet didn't tell much other than exemplifying the blood red glowing eyes. In its hands was a single giant axe with golden highlights being dragged along its side.

The helmet shook as a puff of steam exhaled from it.

Shirou gritted his teeth and got prepared to face the overbearing and large foe–

"… Onii-chan?"

–only to stumble slightly at the voice that such a large foe possessed.

 _Wait a minute, Onii-chan?_

Shirou widened his eyes and slightly lowered the married blades.

"Illya?"

The hulking monstrosity nodded, taking steps closer before stumbling and falling on its face. Steam exited the helmet once more alongside a sigh.

"… A little help? Onii-chan?"

* * *

Once they had confirmed that it was Illya within the huge suit of armor, they set her up against the wall. They were within the nearest abandoned building, which happened to be where Shirou found Rin. After they had learned that people could enter from the exit of the clearing, they left for a more secluded area so that they wouldn't be interrupted.

"Is that really you, midget?" Rin asked, tapping on the armor slightly.

"Yes Rin, it's me. I'm surprised you can use magic in this world Shirou."

"How can you even move in that armor…?" Rin muttered while ignoring the other comment, only to widen her eyes and smack her fist, "Did your body change in size too?"

"Too? Did you change size Rin? You look the same size to me,"

"I'm as tall as Shirou now, actually." Rin claimed. She didn't hide the silent glee in that claim.

A few moments of silence passed before the hulking giant – Illya – raised both her hands and smacked her armored forehead "Ah! I forgot to change your height settings!"

"My height what?"

"When I made your character… I forgot to change the height so you were the same size as Shirou!" Illya exclaimed, but soon after she sighed, "Well, at least you're not a male."

"You have the body of a guy under that armor?" Rin said, "Huh… How does it feel to have a third leg?"

"Nee-san!"

"It's weird," Illya replied, "It keeps rubbing against my thigh… I hate it."

"How did you find us Illya?" Shirou asked in hopes of turning the conversation away from… third legs.

Illya shifted against the wall to a better resting position, "I woke up and found myself where I left my character in the game – which was the guild hall. I got worried and thought you guys were in this world too, so I went to the starting area where I left you all."

"Left us?" Rin muttered, suspicion in her tone. "What do you mean by that?"

Illya awkwardly coughed, "I… didn't really sleep much last night. I played a bit of Elder Tale and moved all your characters to this place. I didn't like where you all would spawn so I chose this location."

"Was there something wrong with the other place?" Sakura asked.

"Too gloomy. It wasn't going to be fun playing there at all."

So she just wanted to make the play experience better for them? Rin could accept that, thankfully.

Shirou sighed as he sat against the wall, "That makes sense… So we really are in the bodies of the characters we made then?" There was something weird about his body, but he couldn't pinpoint what.

Rin frowned and shuddered, "No! I refuse to believe it! This is nothing but a coincidence!"

"Actually yes, that should be true," Illya said, "Before making my way to the starting area I saw other players like me who were just as confused as we are too."

"Other players?" Shirou questioned, "There are other people?"

"Yes, Onii-chan," Illya said, which gave Shirou an odd amount of discomfort from Berserker sized Illya. "It seems that there are others who are in Akihabara with us. They have the bodies of several Races in Elder Tale and wore the same items and cosmetics that were available in the game. Even the city we're in is basically the same as within the game."

"Rin, I don't think we can deny this any longer," Shirou said with a sigh.

"B-but… There's no way a game can do this…" Rin tried to reason even as her whole conception of the world as a magus was shattered around her.

"We can work out the specifics about this later," Shirou said as he rubbed Rin's shoulder in comfort, "All we know is that we're in a world that is extremely similar to this 'Elder Tale' game that Illya wanted us to play."

"Then why does Illya look like a huge brute?! Weren't we supposed to all look alike?"

"Rin, I made this character long before we planned to play together," Illya explained, "I've been using this character for at least a year. Whenever you guys weren't home, I'd be playing Elder Tale to pass the time. I spent a long time grinding in here, you know? I was going to make a new character when we entered the internet cafe."

Shirou's eyes took a dangerous tint as he locked onto something she said, "Grinding?"

Rin snapped from her panic and set an incredulous stare Illya's way, "Aren't you a bit too young to be doing that, midget?"

Although it did give her an idea for her next night with Shirou, whenever that was.

"NOT THAT!" Illya screeched in embarrassment, "Grinding, in MMORPG's, means to constantly kill monsters in order to gain either items, gold, or experience!"

"Monsters…?" Sakura muttered, a thought crossing her mind, "There are monsters here?"

"Yeah," Illya responded, "Almost every zone in Elder Tale has them, why?"

"If the players are here as you said Illya," Sakura continued, "Then would it be reasonable to assume that the monsters are here too?"

Illya opened her mouth but fell silent…

"… MMORPG's are filled with monsters for players to kill," Illya started, "This means that once players get too strong for those monsters, there will be stronger monsters for them to face. The cycle repeats until players cannot beat a monster without help from a well-coordinated party – or guild."

"The point?" Rin asked, feeling impatient.

"It means that in comparison to the average level one player – which all of you are – those monsters would be like trying to fight Berserker without servants to help," Illya said.

"… Are they really that hard to defeat?" Shirou asked as he stared at her in thought.

"Yes, they are." Illya confirmed, "I'm only level sixty-eight. The last time I checked, the maximum level possible in this game was ninety. If I face a monster with a level similar to mine then it would initially be hard to fight, but with the way I built my character… I can probably take care of that similar leveled monster, just barely…"

She raised the giant axe with no effort, a stark contrast to when she was dragging it around. "However if we're talking about the raid bosses – monsters that usually require entire coordinated guilds to have even a slight chance at victory – those monsters would most likely take us out with ease."

Silence followed, which Illya noticed. "Don't worry, those monsters rarely leave the dungeons that they live in. We should be fine… Maybe."

"Maybe? What do you mean by maybe?" Rin complained.

"Well…" Illya trailed off, "Yesterday we made our characters right? The day after that was supposed to be the release of a new expansion. Expansions are released in MMORPG's when the gameplay starts to get boring to the player base. These releases add more content to explore, like new areas or skills to learn. The Novasphere Pioneers is the name of the upcoming– I mean current expansion."

"So that means that once this… Novasphere Pioneers expansion came out, we were all thrown into this game world," Rin concluded but for some reason was unsatisfied with the explanation she came up with, "The events line up… but why, and how?"

"How should I know?!" Illya blurted out, the stress of the situation finally reaching her, "I just wanted to play a game with you guys and then suddenly we're here! More importantly, we have more pressing matters to deal with than how we got here, Rin."

"What are those matters?" Sakura added,

"Food, shelter, and information." Illya replied, "Otherwise, how will we be able to survive in this world? We need to secure a base of operations first."

"Illya," Shirou added in haste, "Do you know anywhere we can rest?"

The hulking mass of armor hummed in thought, "Well… There is the local inn, but that will be filled to the brim with people who don't own player homes. We could camp out here for tonight."

"Out here?" Rin repeated incredulously, "This place is out in the open! What if monsters come and get us or something!?"

"That won't happen," Illya reassured, "The starting area of Elder Tale is a safe zone, meaning no fights or monster encounters are allowed to happen in this area."

"How are you so sure that the monsters will still behave as before?" Shirou asked, "What if some monsters behave differently than when in the game?"

"I guess the Novasphere Pioneer expansion could have changed monster behavior to that degree… but I guarantee we'll be safe here Onii-chan," She said, "I saw it before I made my way here. Two players tried to have a fight and the Royal Guard system triggered. If that system still works, then in conjuncture safe zones should still work."

"Royal Guard system?" Rin asked, "What is that?"

"It's like a system created by the developers of Elder Tale to stop all acts of aggression from players by summoning golems in armor to fight them. These golems are strong and I don't think I can deal with them with my current level… or at all."

Shirou sighed and nodded. He gazed at the sky and frowned, "It's getting dark… Illya, do you have anything to provide warmth and bedding for the night?"

"I have two consumable sleeping bags and a campfire in my inventory."

"Why would you need a sleeping bag that you can eat?"

Illya at this point was too tired to correct Rin and simply opened up a bag and dragged out two sleeping bags. The bag that was opened was only as big an average waist bag. The sleeping bags were thrice as large.

This caused Rin to jump back with surprise in her eyes. "Midget! Where did those come from!?"

"Hmm? My inventory, where else?"

Rin blinked and frowned. "I thought you had it somewhere in your armor, but it came out of your tiny bag! Is it some kind of pocket dimension?"

Illya blinked and held up her tiny bag, "In the game, this is called a Magic Bag. It's given to every player after completing a specific quest… but now that you mention it, I wonder how deep we can go into it?"

"Having something like that would be handy in surviving in this world, but we shouldn't experiment with something like that for today," Sakura commented, not mentioning how risky that would be… Although, they were all magi. A little experimentation should be fine right?

Sakura shook that thought away. She turned to the sleeping bags and rolled them open. "We should start going to sleep. How shall we have the arrangements?"

"I vote to sleep with Onii-chan!"

Collectively, they stared at Illya's huge armored form. Both Rin and Sakura sent each other a quick glance and a nod,

"Sakura and I will be sharing, you can go ahead and sleep with him midget," Rin said quickly.

Shirou sighed, those two really did not want to sleep with Illya in her giant form.

"By the way," Sakura added, "Any suggestions as to what we should have for dinner?"

Shirou blinked at the question. However, after some thought he immediately frowned, "There are no cooking utensils around… that means… I can't cook…"

While a frustrated and pouting Shirou was a rare sight, Illya smiled, "Don't worry, there's a cooking mechanic in the game. As long as you have the right ingredients and recipe, you can make it."

"… It's like you can do literally _anything_ in this game can't you…?" Rin muttered.

While Shirou didn't seem on board with the idea of auto-completed food, they agreed that eating it for tonight would be the best idea.

Illya seemingly tapped in the air, before anyone could ask what she was doing, a puff of smoke covered their vision. From where the smoke originated was a whole cooked chicken. Since Illya mentioned that she had the ingredients, then did that make this process purely transmutative in nature?

Shirou involuntarily sniffed and frowned. He did not smell anything coming from it, in fact, it smelled almost like nothing. Reluctantly, Shirou ripped out a piece of chicken and waited for the others to do the same.

Illya grinned,"Itadakimasu~!"

And collectively, everyone bit into the chicken.

Without hesitation, Rin stood up with rage in her eyes and raised her arm–

"IT TASTES LIKE _SHIT_!"

–only to fling the chicken piece off into the horizon.

Normally, Shirou would be abhorred at the treatment of food… but at that moment… Shirou was not eating food. Something that tasted like something his step-father would have made deserved no right to call itself food.

This wasn't food he was eating, it was trash.

Rin, bless her soul, grabbed the entirety of the chicken and chucked it off into the horizon with a surprising display of strength, alongside the wing that she had grabbed originally.

Illya didn't even stop her. Instead, she threw the thing with just as much force as Rin had if not more due to her giant armored body.

"WHY WAS IT SO BAD!?" Illya screamed, "Onii-chan! Cook us something!"

"No.. utensils…" He muttered out as he dropped the trash onto the ground. It was an abomination in his eyes with no redemption.

Illya opened her bag and dragged out a bonfire, quickly using two stones to light it on fire. "We have a campfire! I have some meat in my inventory, just roast it or something!"

Shirou was all too eager to comply. He picked up random sticks and set it above the fire.

"Sakura, do you want to… help?" He asked, but trailed off once he saw how Sakura was too busy grinding the chicken she had under her heel.

It was best that she let out her stress. Shirou would normally be joining her in righteous fury, but Rin and Illya had thrown the rest of the abomination off into the distance, and the old piece that he dropped was picked up by Rin and flung away too.

Shirou turned back to Illya, who dragged out several sausages from her magic bag. He wasn't going to ask how she had sausages, he wanted to barbecue the meat above some fire, _now._

He stabbed the sausages with the stick and set it above the fire–

"WHAT THE–?!" Rin screamed in absolute horror, "NOO!"

–only to rear his hand back in horror as the sausage had turned into a black paste.

All they could do was stare.

They had no secure information on this world, only Illya had some information but it had a high chance to be outdated, which is dangerous. They had no lodgings; the inns were no doubt full by now. The world around them was potentially dangerous to their health. To top it all off, they weren't allowed to cook anything.

He wasn't allowed or able to cook not a single thing.

… It was official.

While Illya, Rin, and Sakura were lamenting the lack of valid food, Shirou stared with half-dead eyes off out the ruined building window off into the sky.

Surprisingly, Shirou found that he hated this world.

"Senpai… I think it would be best that we sleep." Sakura concluded, staring at the blackened paste.

He nodded in response, "We'll talk more about our situation in the morning…"

"… Maybe the raw sausages taste good–" Rin muttered, which prompted Sakura to quickly smack her sister before she made a mistake. Those sausages smelled like chicken, Rin could have gotten poisoned with salmonella… possibly. Could never be too sure, especially since they didn't know where it came from.

Food aside, he had to deal with sleeping alongside Illya's huge armored form, within a sleeping bag that's around half her size. Illya sense his worry and sent him a wry smile.

"Don't worry Onii-chan," Illya said, opening up her magic bag again, "This form is getting annoying to move in, so I'll be changing it now."

"Changing– Wait you can change appearances?" Rin muttered, still sullen from the lack of appropriate dinner. "Why didn't you do that earlier?"

Illya nodded in response, "I didn't change earlier because I was too worried about you guys. We also got lost in the conversation so I didn't remember…" Illya beamed as she took out a rather exotic looking blue potion bottle. "Here it is! All I have to do is drink this and we'll be good to go Onii-chan!"

Illya unequipped her armor, revealing a white-haired male with two wolfish ears in chain mail. This was presumably Illya's male form, so no one made any comment.

Illya popped the cap of the bottle off and in one sitting, dumped the entirety of the potion down her throat.

* * *

The morning had not been kind to them. Upon awakening, the immediate response Shirou had was to move to the kitchen… only to receive a cruel reminder when he woke up to the ruined structure surrounding them.

While he himself had no problem awakening, Sakura and Rin on the other hand listlessly dragged themselves out of their shared sleeping bag.

He supposed that it was justified that both Sakura and Rin were being sloths. They didn't have the stomach for watching Illya's huge body be broken down bone by bone, flesh reshaping itself and molding down into a teenage body size and shape.

It was horrific, made all the more disturbing when Illya happily crawled into their shared sleeping bag without worry despite the screams and squeals of pain that ensued during the transformation. There weren't even any marks or stitches, it was like her body was transmuted into a teenage form.

Rin wasn't even given time to comment on the absurdity. She surely would have if she noticed how 'endowed' she had made her character look.

Illya did always act older than she looked. She actually looked older than everyone else now, maybe a little over 19 years of age.

"Illya, are you up?" Shirou asked, poking the lump in their shared sleeping bag. "You're our only guide right now so we need you awake."

The Einzbern poked her head out of the sleeping bag and frowned, two additional ears on her head flopping downwards. "Fine Onii-chan, just let me reequip my armor…"

"I… don't think that will still fit you… midget." Rin strained to speak. She really needed her morning coffee, because she totally forgot that Illya wasn't a midget any longer. However, a squirt of sudden water snapped her from her drowsy reverie. "What the hell?!"

Illya, still in her chain mail which thankfully covered her assets, smirked as she held a flask of water in her hands. "Ha! Serves you right, Rin!"

Rin growled and raised her arm to shoot a Gandr, but luckily Sakura burst from her reverie and stopped her. Shirou sighed and shook his head with a soft smile at their antics. "Just go get changed Illya."

Illya shrugged, "Fine~" She raised her finger and tapped randomly in the air again.

A flash of light and Illya's armor appeared on her. Surprisingly, it was form fitting. The helmet wasn't as threatening as before and revealed her face, however, her armor had suddenly decided to show some skin on her belly.

Luckily her chain mail covered it up properly.

"Damn it, stupid female armor stereotypes…" Illya muttered in frustration. However, at the silence in the air, she turned to face both Rin and Shirou, who wore a somewhat confused expression.

"… What?" Illya asked.

"How did you summon that from nowhere, midget?" Rin asked, "Before it was from that magic bag… actually, you tapped the air a few times, is it some kind of spatial magecraft?"

Illya blinked and waited for a second before she slammed a palm on her helmet, "I forgot! You guys don't know how to navigate the new menu system!"

"Menu system?" Sakura asked, a curious tilt of her head following after. "How do we access this system?"

Illya crossed her arms and contemplated, "I don't fully know… you just have to call on it, I think? Just try think of a hexagon with your class symbol on it."

Shirou did just that. He widened his eyes as a green and yellow hexagon appeared, expanding into other options around him. Momentarily he was disorientated, but he regained his balance quickly enough to avoid falling over.

Rin wasn't so lucky. She fell over in shock, obviously expecting nothing to happen. Sakura chuckled nervously and helped her sister up.

"So this is the Menu…" Shirou muttered. He remembered Illya used her fingers to navigate so he did the same, tapping on random windows that opened up into more windows with information. However, most of which he had no idea as to what they meant.

It was at this time, Shirou mildly wished he knew more about the game that Illya loved. "This is surprisingly helpful." He muttered out loud.

"I know right?!" Illya supplied, but frowned afterward, "Too bad the battle system isn't that well laid out… or that the log out button works."

If the log out button did work, then returning would've been easy.

"… By the way midget," Rin asked, having recovered from her stumble, "What race are you in this world? Another Foxtail like Sakura?"

"No, I'm apart of the Wolf fang race." Illya said, "We have strong physical prowess apparently. Maybe it was because this race was engineered magically to fight wars?"

"So a complete inverse to the magical boost of a Foxtail…" Rin muttered as she set aside the grim thought that Illya provided. She idly scrolled around her menu. "Oh? These must be the skills we have… Racial skills and Class Skills."

"You should only have one Class and Racial skill at level one, Rin." Illya added, "You should also have skill points that you can use to unlock more skills, but spend them wisely because you won't be getting them back unless you pay a vendor several million to re-spec your character."

"I don't know what a re-spec is but whatever."

Rin scrolled through the options that she could use, only to frown. "Midget, you're wrong about the only one Class skill thing. I have five here."

"WHAT?!"

Illya shouted, running up to Rin and narrowing her eyes, "What are they?!"

"Calm down midget! There's Fire, Water, Wind, and Earth affinity!" Rin shouted in haste, "There's also one below it that says Energy manipulation."

"Energy Manipulation is the standard skill all Sorcerers start with," Illya started, "From there you're supposed to pick which element to start with and proceed onward… How in the world did you have all of them?"

"I don't know," Rin shrugged, "Maybe because I'm an Average One?"

"That doesn't even make any…" Illya muttered, "Wait, it does actually."

An Average One, in contrast to its name, is far from average. Only a mage with an elemental affinity for all five basic elements can be gifted the title of Average One. The Ether element could have also translated into the Energy Manipulation that all Sorcerers had.

She could literally learn every spell if she wanted to. That was broken.

"Is it possible that Nee-san's elemental affinity affected the skills that she learned?" Sakura hypothesized with a frown.

Illya nodded slowly, "Maybe… but if that's true, then maybe we all have skills that we shouldn't have. Quickly check your skills."

Shirou and Sakura complied then proceeded to do just that.

"I have a Racial skill that says passive on it and one Class skill called Heal." Sakura said, however her face quickly formed into a frown, "I have a passive skill named 'Imaginary Elements'… I suppose that this wasn't meant to be here."

"What does it do?" Rin asked, searching her menu as she spoke. She was most likely looking at all the spells.

"It says that it gives all my summons an indefinite duration and some sentience," Sakura said, "In addition, it gives me bonus damage and healing against spiritual beings."

"That's broken!" Illya exclaimed, momentarily stopping her scroll through her skills. "Druid summons aren't that strong but they have amazing support effects."

Illya remembered a Raid she went on a few months ago. A druid had used a summon to call a giant tree of life. It had been able to heal everyone around it at a great rate. If Sakura's skill helped summon that tree, they would spend less mana on healing and more on buffing. In addition, if the sentience function did something, maybe the tree would be able to move or attack.

It was broken, plain and simple, and that wasn't even taking into regard the other druid summons that exist for purely offense or defense.

Illya shook off her stupor and focused once more on her own skill tree. She soon furrowed her brow as she read through it. "Everything seems to be in order… All my Race and Class skills are here– No wait, I have a new skill here!"

"What is it?" Rin asked, getting a tad bit interested.

Illya opened her mouth but then frowned afterward. "It can only be used by someone of the magic classes… damn, if I was a sorcerer or an enchanter then I could have used this skill."

"What's it called?" Sakura asked despite the fact that she sensed Illya's discomfort.

"Wishcraft."

The silence that followed was deafening.

It was the Einzbern's personalized magic, a spell that once activated, allowed skipping the process of a spell and proceed directly to the output. Completing miracles with only magic power as an input source for it, there were no other needed components…

… and it was locked due to the fact that she had chosen the Guardian class.

In a way, Illya could say she was relieved, but she was also disappointed. Wishcraft could have been a way to return home. Unfortunately, there was no way to change class after one had surpassed level thirty in Elder Tale.

It was truly unfortunate.

"… What about you Shirou?" Rin interjected with a sigh. "Anything out of place?"

Shirou let out a deep breath. "Yeah… Separated from all the rest is my Tracing ability, and above it is Unlimited Blade Works."

"… Can you use it?" Sakura asked worriedly. "Can you use Unlimited Blade Works?"

He shook his head, "No, I can't. It says that I have insufficient mana."

Illya nodded slowly, having gotten over the lack of her family magecraft. "Onii-chan, could you trace a sword and keep an eye on your mana?"

He nodded and traced Kanshou. "My mana decreased by ten."

"So tracing uses up ten points of mana…" Illya muttered in disbelief, "You regenerate one mana roughly every ten seconds. Add it to the total hundred and thirty mana of the Swashbuckler Class at level one…"

"What about a regular sword?" Rin inquired. "That should be a lot cheaper right?"

Shirou obliged and traced a standard run of the mill short sword. "It costed a single point."

"So you can only trace about a dozen Noble Phantasms and above a hundred regular swords." Rin concluded with a frown. "Huh… It's like you're at the start again, Shirou."

He could only nod at that. "This… is not that great." Shirou concluded.

In the previous world – or should he say real world? – he was able to trace almost double that amount, which made him a big threat in the eyes of the Mages Association.

"On the contrary Onii-chan, it's great!" Illya said, which surprised Shirou, "There are items in this game that can help you regenerate some mana every second, so you can use your swords practically forever if you manage your mana well enough–"

Illya blinked and then frowned. "That… would actually drag unwanted attention."

"It would?" Rin asked, "Aren't there a lot of weird skills? This one here says it creates a tornado of ice."

"That's a skill programmed into the game, not one that's appeared out of the blue like Shirou's tracing." Illya argued, "If players found out you had those skills, they'd harass you two to find out how you did it."

"Wouldn't they be too busy trying to find a way out of this world like us?" Sakura asked, to which Illya sighed.

"Don't underestimate the jealousy of a gamer. Most of them are salty and would probably endanger us all just to spite you." Granted Illya didn't know if they would at all, the possible threat of permanent death and all. In theory, they could respawn, but there was no way in hell she was going to let anyone she cared about try it.

Secretly Illya wanted to scream out to the world about the injustice that had just happened. All her friends had extra broken skills! She had one too– but it was damn locked! It was unfair!

Illya blinked as she came to a realization and smacked her fist, "Wait, keep an eye on your menus!"

They did as she asked and widened their eyes at the notification.

"[Illyasviel] wants to be your friend…?" Sakura muttered, "Aren't we already friends though, Illya-chan?"

"Not in the eyes of the game," Illya answered, "If we need to contact each other, we'll need to use this in order to do so. It's also convenient, like a tracking spell."

"I see…" Shirou nodded at that, seeing the value of such a feature. However, after he had accepted the request and silence enveloped the building, he spoke. "What do we do now? Any suggestions?"

Illya nodded, "First thing is first. While I know you can fight Onii-chan, I need to relearn how to use all my skills. Both Sakura and Rin need to learn how to use their class skills too. We'll be doing that out in the training grounds – especially Rin!"

"Why are you singling me out!?"

"You have five affinities to train up! I don't want to see you screw up somehow!"

Rin snorted, "As if I would ever screw up." Ignoring the time she summoned Archer in a separate room, killed the school's pet rabbit – creating a need to replace it with an automaton, and destroyed their TV. "Besides, I can still use Gandr… which is weird because my crest is missing."

"How much mana does that use Nee-san?" Sakura asked.

Rin conjured and shot a Gandr into the ground. "Hmm… two points of mana." She shot another, although this time it left a mark on the floor. "Five points for a Finn shot. I wonder if I can use my gem magecraft here…?"

"Wander about that later!" Illya scolded, "We need to train up your affinities!"

Rin snorted, "I have Gandr, I'll be fine~"

Shirou shook his head, "No, Illya's right. You and Sakura need to learn how to fight in this world. Gandr and Finn shot will attract unwanted attention."

Rin clicked her tongue, "Fine, but what about Shirou? He needs to learn how to use his skills too."

"Onii-chan can just trace a Noble Phantasm and be done with it,"

"What about dragging attention?" Sakura asked.

"Just trace a normal looking sword you can find in the marketplace then," Illya replied, "He looks like a newbie, so using a low-level sword should suit him just fine."

She had a point there. At least he could disguise his 'magic' as a simple sword.

"What should I do in the meantime then?" Shirou asked. He had nothing else to do actually. Maybe practice alongside them?

Illya shrugged, "I don't know, maybe familiarize yourself with Akihabara? It would be a good idea to do that. I've been playing here for so long that I have a mental map of this place."

Shirou nodded and walked away, "Got it! Take care, you guys!"

"Bye bye Onii-chan!"

"Have a safe trip, Senpai!"

"Bring me a souvenir, Shirou!"

He didn't really have any money but he could still try. Shirou just hoped that the girls could get along while he wasn't with them… right?

He ignored the smug laughter than Rin had when Illya tripped because of her new height.

* * *

 **A/N: As you can see, I basically skipped explaining what happened to the Holy Grail War. It's not the main focus, so I did that.**

 **Sue me.**

 **Also, this is mainly an info dump, but like any smart person, you'd try to gather information from the closest reliable source. I.E. Illya.**

 **Welcome 'Worldbringer of Joseun' as the mainstay beta of this particular fic, or in short Matt.**

 **A/N 2: Fixed some errors that we both missed.**


	2. Chapter 2: The Emiya Family

**Chapter 2**

 **Beta: Worldbringer of Joseun**

* * *

Shirou wandered Akihabara. He turned street corners, went down alleyways, and followed the sound of players… Players that were either screaming in rage or wallowing in defeat.

There was despair everywhere. People just lying on the sidewalks, against trees, even lazily in the center of the road. It's like they didn't have a reason to go on.

Such a sight of despair… It rubbed him the wrong way.

If there was something he could do to help them, he would. However, as it stands now, he was the weakest among them all. His level was one, the absolute bottom. Whatever he could do was not going to aid these people, whose levels all ranged from Illya's to the hypothetical maximum, ninety.

His level would not be able to deal with the beasts that Illya said lurked within the dungeons, whose power required several groups of warriors to be defeated. Even if he could throw Noble Phantasms until those beasts died, he would not be able to keep it up.

If tracing a single regular sword cost a single point of mana, then breaking it to deal damage to these beasts, would require a whole lot more of his prana– mana. A whole lot more mana too if he used noble phantasms. He needed to get stronger, that was a given, but the forest outside these city walls was too dangerous to deal with as he was now.

Until Illya had Rin and Sakura trained up to an okay level, he would do as Illya said. Explore Akihabara and get a good idea of the surroundings.

"Hey… isn't that guy level one?"

"Yeah, he is… Oh man. Sucks to be him."

"He's gonna die. Definitely going to die."

They were talking about him, and as of now, he could do nothing to refute that. He was reminded of his first days in the Holy Grail War a year ago… the feeling of helplessness…

He hated that feeling.

His stomach suddenly grumbled, an odd feeling seeing as this was not his own body. He turned to the nearest vendor stall, which had cabbages lined up. It was owned by someone with ginger hair and alabaster skin, odd but fantastical in a sense. It fits with the world he supposed.

"Excuse me, do you know where I can find a cheap meal?" Shirou asked as he approached the stall.

The person blinked and sent him a surprised look. Despite the reaction, he replied, "If you're looking for something to eat, then I suppose the adventurer tavern is where you'll want to go…" He regarded Shirou with another look. "You aren't acting like I thought you adventurers would…"

"Really?" Shirou asked, "How would an… adventurer react?"

"Most of them nowadays just ignore us and sit around on the road." He grumbled and snorted, "I remember the day when they used to go around and help us with our jobs. I'm low on beetroot cabbages and the monsters that keep them are too strong for me to beat."

"So… adventurers used to do that for you?"

"If I paid them yeah." He replied, but then sent a slightly fearful yet annoyed look at the adventurer that walked passed the stall, "… I don't know what happened to you lot but seeing someone who isn't walking like they're dead is a welcome change."

Shirou turned and looked at everyone, once more seeing the despair. "I suppose…"

"Hey man, why are you talking to the NPC?" Someone asked him, he had a full set of black plate-mail armor. He also had red hair and a great sword by his side. Horribly proportioned, but it was a fantasy weapon made in a fantasy world, Shirou could live with it.

Shirou furrowed his brow, "NPC? What's that?"

The stranger's eyes widened. "You don't know…?" He looked upwards and widened his eyes further. "You're level one! You must be a newbie, right?"

Shirou sent a look to the shopkeep, who had backed away slightly and directed his own gaze elsewhere. Finding it odd, Shirou replied with a yes.

"Damn man… you're so dead. Here, you know how to open the trade menu right?"

Shirou nodded, tapping on the screen before him and manually searching for the figure. When he found it, he tapped it and found a request sent from 'Isaac'.

"Since you're a swashbuckler, these potions should do the trick." He tapped his screen, and Shirou found the menu to show a potion icon under the name Isaac, "They're simple Haste potions so you don't have to pay me anything for these, just survive for now man."

"You don't have to give me these, Isaac-san–"

"I'm not cruel enough to let someone – whose level is basically a death sentence – die on my watch. The other players who're at least level twenty have at least _some_ chance of survival – _you_ on the other hand, have _absolutely zero_." He cut in, unknowingly making Shirou annoyed at being called weak, even if it was true at the present moment. "These potions were just gathering dust anyway, you need them a hell lot more than me."

The screen showed big READY text on Isaac's side, which probably meant that this was the final trade. Shirou tapped his ready button and found the menu disappear completely.

"The potions should be in your inventory," He said, "I'd invite you to my guild if I could, but I have a level limit restriction. I'd remove it if I could but with the NPC's acting weird, I'm not sure I can do that."

"… Thanks for the potions, I guess." Shirou trailed his reply, "You still didn't tell me what an NPC is."

"Simple, it means Non-Player Character." He replied, "Basically AI programs when they were in the game." His eyes widened and turned to his side, he frowned at the metaphysical message he received. "Damn it, it's already that time? If you ever need some help, just call. These low-level brats will never survive out here for long…"

With that grim reminder, Isaac left down the street.

"So that's what NPC meant…" The shopkeeper muttered as a frown took hold, "I don't know what he meant by 'game' or 'AI' but I know slander when I hear one…"

Shirou smiled wryly, "Don't hold it over them, mister…?"

"Egburd, that's the name my old man gave me." He added, "Not an NPC like those adventurers call us. I'm a proud citizen of Eastal and nothing is going to change that."

"Mister Egburd," Shirou continued as he committed the name to memory. "Don't hold it over them, they're just… confused and afraid."

He huffed, "Whatever. The only good adventurer I've met since yesterday is you. Nice, polite, and not demanding a discount on everything I sell…"

Shirou gave him a smile and waved, "I suppose I'll see you later?"

"Don't get yourself killed laddie, not that you adventurers can die anyway…"

 _What?_

His thoughts on what Egburd had said faded when he received a message from Illya. He tapped the screen and read the message…

Was it already time for him to go? That was surprising. Time had somehow flown away when he wasn't looking.

He said his goodbye's to Egburd and walked away. He had a vague idea where the training grounds were, luckily Illya provided directions in her message so he knew where to go.

The odd stares he was getting from simply talking with Egburd were off-putting though.

* * *

"Why is this so damn hard!?"

Illya sighed for what was like the fifth time this morning. In addition to tripping every few minutes due to her new height – which made Rin snicker each and every time – the self-proclaimed genius magus was failing to so much as use a single spell.

In light of her failure to do so, the training dummy before them rocked side to side with the wind as if mocking her. Illya would have laughed at Rin's suffering in the training grounds, but she had run out of laughter ages ago.

Now? It was just sad.

"It's not working!" Rin complained, again. "I can shoot a Gandr just fine, but an 'Fire Bolt'? Bullshit!"

"C-Calm down Nee-san!"

"Easy for you to say, Sakura! You mastered that absurdly simple healing skill easily!"

"It isn't absurd and it isn't simple, Rin." Illya chided.

Even though the twin-tailed magus had all the affinities, she found it hard to even use the basic spell that came with those affinities. Apparently, she said that it wasn't like her magecraft at all and that it was unfair that Sakura could use it instantly.

"Shut up!" Rin cried, raising a hand and focusing once more. "Come on… burn already!"

"Yelling isn't going to help, Nee-san."

"Then how did you do it?!"

"Calm down and maybe I'll tell you."

After Rin gave her sister a glare, it lightened and she slumped. "Fine. Oh all mighty Sakura~, what is it that I'm doing wrong?"

"Well… I'm not a mage," Sakura started, "but I think that you shouldn't just create a fire in your hands for starters."

"Why not? All spells start with the creation of the mystery before the manipulation of the element." Rin said as she rolled her eyes, "Any magus worth their salt knows that. Otherwise the spell goes wrong and you could lose a limb."

"But you're forgetting something, Rin." Illya reminded with a somewhat mocking smile.

"And what _exactly_ am I forgetting?" Rin asked heatedly.

"This is a _game_."

A few moments of silence passed. Rin twitched slowly and faced the albino magus.

"I hate you sometimes," Rin complained.

"I love you too, Rin!"

Sakura could not help herself and laughed out loud at the antics that the two of them shared. Rin sent her a glare too before facing the training dummy once more.

"So instead of imagining the entire process – like any normal magus with a brain would – I should just skip all that and shoot the thing?" Rin asked for clarification.

Illya nodded. "Yep."

Rin nodded this time and pointed her hands – in a similar posture to when she'd use Gandr – at the training dummy. " **Firebolt!** "

Instead of nothing happening, Rin felt the prana – Or as Illya kept saying nowadays 'mana' – escape from her body and into her fingertips, generating a flame and blasting it from her fingers.

It was weak, as expected of a spell given to starting mages, but from what Rin could see…

"This is stupid." She concluded. She watched as the spell traveled slowly – half the speed of her more efficient Gandr – and hit the training dummy, not even setting it on fire. _It was made of straw damn it!_ "Not only did this mockery of a spell skip the cardinal processes – making the spell casting linear and flimsy as all hell – it was so weak that it can't even burn dried straw."

"What do you expect?" Illya chided as she shuffled on her rock seat. "This is a game, Rin. The starting spells are weak as heck."

Rin shot out a Firebolt again, once more hitting the straw dummy for almost no damage. She shot it again, and again, and again, and again–

"Okay, I'll ask – Rin, what in the hell are you doing?" Illya asked at seeing the magus fire another Firebolt for the seventh time in a row. "Have you finally lost your marbles?"

Rin looked at her mana, which was just under half, and nodded to herself.

"Yup, Gandr is far more efficient."

"A blind crow could have told you that, Rin."

Rin shrugged and prepared to fire once more–

The fire curled in on itself, being wrapped in foreign energy and expanding before blasting itself forward as fast as a Finn Shot. Once it impacted the straw dummy, it blasted to smithereens.

Rin smirked to herself. "Yup, that's more like it."

"WHAT THE HECK, RIN?!" Illya screamed, "That doesn't make any damn sense! How did you do that?!"

"What? You didn't realize?" Rin rose an eyebrow as she smirked. "It wasn't that hard to reverse engineer the spell after using it several times. It was inefficient as hell, it didn't even loop the fire for a more explosive finish, even the prana gathering method was amateur. By the way, totally naming that last spell Finn Fire."

"You just… made a spell?" Illya muttered, "That shouldn't be… that shouldn't be possible. Did Novasphere Pioneers change that much? Is it a new mechanic…?"

"Midget?" Rin called, waving a hand so that the albino magus could see her, "Midget? You there? Nope, she's gone."

"Are you sure you should still call Illya, a 'midget'?" Sakura asked wryly as she looked over Illya's new… body.

Despite the fact that neither of the sisters wanted to remember how Illya exactly obtained that body, none of them could deny that her new body suited her more than her child-like body ever did.

Actually, she was acting somewhat less childish at the moment. Maybe her body was just influencing her to act like a child?

"Even if the midget changes her body, she's still the same midget to me." Rin huffed as she ignored the fact that Illya had made her bust size substantially bigger than hers.

At least it wasn't as big as Sakura's, cheers for the small victories.

"I'd advise against using Finn Fire in public, Nee-san." Sakura chided.

"Of course I'm not using my magecraft in front of civilians Sakura," Rin replied as if it was common knowledge, forgetting the fact that magic is standard in this game world. "I already saw Illya's reaction to it, I don't want to see how others would react."

Sakura checked the time, a handy feature that the menu gave her without the use of a wristwatch. "Hmm… it's almost time. Shirou should be coming back by now."

Rin looked at her own magical floating clock, "You're right about that. Hey, midget! Send a message to Shirou for us!"

Rin would have honestly done it herself, but she didn't know how to use the messaging function just yet. One day, but for now she was focusing on the spells she was casting.

Illya snapped from her reverie and obliged. "I'll send him directions, for now, you should work on your other elements– Don't make new spells yet! If you use up all your mana then we're going to have to wait for it to regenerate!"

"What was that? Sorry, wasn't listening." Rin said… as her hand was held out toward where a wind-infused Gandr was shot, shredding through another training dummy. "Naming that one Finn Gale, totally."

Rin furrowed her brow and shook her wrist when Finn Gale wasn't being shot out, "Hey midget, why isn't the spells being shot?"

Illya's brow twitched. She couldn't hold it in, with one last twitch she bellowed "YOU RAN OUT OF MANA! DAMN IT RIN!"

Rin held her hands up to cover her ears. "Damn it midget! Save the screeching for when you pop your cherry!"

"NEE-SAN!"

"What? It's true!" Rin exclaimed, "Illya seems more like a squealer–"

"We literally have to wait until your mana regenerates now!" Illya chided,

"It didn't feel like I ran out of prana," Rin replied, "My circuits still feel fine."

"If this were a real battle, you would have been left helpless by now!" Illya pressed.

Rin snorted, "Does it matter? I've learned how to use the weak spells now. By the way, mixing Gandr into the weak elemental attacks doesn't change the spell cost at all."

Illya sighed and chose to ignore that overpowered piece of information, again. The lesson about mana conservation wasn't really being driven home just yet, but Illya did know that in a real battle, Rin would be cautious.

Although… It was like Illya was the only one who had no overpowered ability. Even though she was the one who made their characters as weak as they could, specifically Rin's character.

–But as it turns out, _RIN WAS THE MOST BROKEN OF THEM ALL!_

Illya pouted as she mentally complained about an overpowered Ritian, but she widened her eyes as she received a message asking for a voice chat… and it wasn't from Shirou.

The name highlighted above the message indicated it was from a player named 'Woodstock W'.

The Guild Master of her old guild, Grandeur.

Her eyes widened further.

The weight of the message she was sent was… burdening, to say the least.

"Sorry girls, I'll need to take a private call." Illya apologized, which was uncharacteristic of her, both Sakura and Rin knew that, but let her walk away to start a voice chat. Sakura and Rin both stared at her oddly, which Illya supposed was granted.

She didn't go too far, just out of ear shot. Once she seated herself under a big oak tree, she initiated the call with a slightly heavy breath.

"… _Hello? Is this Illyasviel?_ "

She remembered that voice, it was nostalgic, to say the least.

"Yes, it's me, Woodstock-san."

She normally wouldn't be calling someone with an honorific, but this man was respectable in Illya's eyes. He had once been apart of a high-level raid guild, but he left due to the elitist practices that it had. He ran a small guild that welcomed players from all-round.

This included herself.

" _That's wonderful, you are alright yes?_ " He asked, "I _t's not safe to be alone in this world now. Come to the guild, we can help you out. Some of them are worried about you._ "

"I'm not a member anymore, Woodstock-san," Illya reminded, "Besides, I'm not alone. I have my family here with me."

Even though she fought with one of them every single day, Illya was still proud to call them family. They stuck with her and put up with some of her selfish wishes. Calling them any less was a disservice.

" _You do?_ " He said in surprise. " _That's terrific! They can help keep you safe_ _then…_ _W_ _hat level are they?_ "

"… Level one?"

Illya was less proud to admit that.

" _I retract my statement– bring them with you! They'll die if you aren't careful!_ " He said in a panic, " _Do you know what a low level means Illyasviel?!_ _– Especially a level that low!_ _They can't even farm slimes without being close to death!_ "

"We're fine," Illya concluded, "I'm not letting them out of Akihabara until I find a safe way for them to grind. I'm not an idiot Woodstock-san!"

" _It is still dangerous!_ " He replied, " _Being in a guild is safer for you and your family, you have to join us here. If not for yourself, then for your family._ "

Illya fell silent, "Is that all you wanted to call me for, Woodstock-san?"

" _Illyasviel_ _,_ _I know that tone._ " He warned. " _Please, for the love of god don't ha_ _ng_ _up the call–_ "

Illya was an atheist, she had no love for god.

Edgy statements aside, she was also a very stubborn girl.

They'd be fine.

All they need to was each other. She wasn't going to let anyone harm them. She may trust Woodstock, but she didn't really trust the other members.

Gamers were petty, she didn't want to risk one of those members doing… unsavory things to them because of their extra abilities. Illya didn't particularly want to see the mages harass Rin on her new spells, or Druids harass Sakura for tips, or harass Shirou for his ass–

She just didn't want their abilities to be found out! Gamers are a damn desperate bunch!

That, and she didn't want to risk sexual harassment.

–Harassment on Shirou, because he's got a great ass.

 _Huzzah~ for peepholes!_

"So, what was that call about, midget?" Rin called upon seeing Illya walk back to them, miraculously stumbling only once. "Sounded intense."

"It was just an old acquaintance in the game," Illya replied, "He wanted to make sure I was fine."

"That's nice of him," Sakura commented.

"By the way, my mana is taking a while to regenerate. Does it always take this long?" Rin asked.

Illya nodded as she placed the thoughts of her conversation behind her for a bit. "It takes that long because you don't have any items equipped that help, most mage classes have some that do. I'll be buying some starter gear for you all later, for now, we have to wait for Shirou to arrive."

"Well looks like we aren't waiting long," Rin commented, "I see his sweet ass over there."

"Nee-san!"

"You know it's sweet too, Sakura~"

Rin began to descend into a teasing frenzy on her poor younger sister. It allowed Illya some reprieve to smile Shirou's way and wave.

"So, how was the trip?" Illya asked, "Familiar with the town yet?"

"I'll need to explore more, but I have a general idea of the area…" Shirou replied. He looked over to the two sisters struggling before them in a grapple. "… I take it that I missed something?"

"Just ignore it," Illya waved it off, "Okay girls! I have our next plan of action!"

"And what would that be, midget?"

While she had ignored Woodstock's offer, she was taking certain other parts of their conversation into consideration. It was something that would help Illya protect her family and allow them to train away from prying eyes…

 _Guilds._

"We're going to make a guild!"

* * *

Rin frowned as she gazed around. "I don't like how these guys are looking at us, midget."

"It's because of your equipment and level that they're staring," Illya replied offhandedly. "They're just pitying you guys."

"I still don't like it…" Rin huffed as she crossed her arms. Shirou smiled at her wryly, which made the twin-tailed magus look away in stubborn contempt.

The group had left the training area and was now down the street. Just like with Shirou, the people around them had sent varying degrees of stifling and annoying worried looks, which didn't sit well with Tohsaka.

Illya and Sakura had taken to it rather calmly and ignored the looks completely.

"Why do we need to make a… Guild, again?" Rin asked.

"Having a guild gives us a free guild room," Illya explained, "It's safe and cannot be accessed by other players unless the guild master or someone with the guild master's permission allows them to. This way we won't have to worry about people sneaking into our camp."

"If you say so," Rin muttered.

"We also get to freely customize the interior, which we can upgrade to have both great beds or a warm shower. Some guild bases have hot springs if I'm remembering it right."

"What are we waiting for!?" Rin exclaimed, "Move your midget ass!"

The trio of level one players quickly followed Illya down a couple open streets as they ignored the despair that flooded the streets. Well, the girls did, Shirou had a hard time in doing so.

Soon Illya came to a brief stop before a large building, which prompted the others to do so as well.

The building itself was as high as a common skyscraper, but what made it so interesting was the structural details it had. There were numerous windows, all of which were overshadowed by the gold trimmings that the exterior of the building had. It had the usual overgrowth of trees and vines that the other ruined buildings shared, although it didn't make it any less majestic.

"Eh, I've seen better."

The rest ignored Rin as they followed Illya into the building. Not many people were actually hanging out in the reception hall, the majority of them either still despairing outside or within one of the many guild rooms that the Guild Hall had.

From there, Illya walked up to the reception, stationed with People of the Land, and promptly tapped on the reception bell.

 _Numerous times._

The bell was dragged from her by a female receptionist, which prompted Illya to pout a bit. Sakura stood behind Illya to give her company while Rin – who had dragged Shirou off with her – inspected the architecture. Illya had no idea why, but she didn't question it.

"Yes," The receptionist started, "What is it that you require?"

Professional, that was what Illya noticed. That or the woman before her had a naturally stoic face. Then again, all the Kunie clan members looked the same, except the females because they had breasts.

"I'd like to start a guild." Illya declared, puffing her chest up in pride at the declaration.

The receptionist didn't care to notice that and simply nodded. She reached under the desk and dragged out a form. "Here. Sign this and you'll be free to create your own guild. You need a minimum of four player signatures before it will be accepted. If you fail to return the form within twelve hours then further requests will be denied until a twenty-four hour period has passed."

 _Okay…?_

Illya thought that was odd. The time restriction wasn't there before. Was it due to the update? Also, the NPC was far less welcoming than when Illya last met her in the game, maybe something to do with the players harassing them?

The four-player restriction was still there though, just like it was in Elder Tale.

"Thanks!" Illya said as she grabbed the form. She was also given a feathered quill, archaic compared to the modern pen, and an ink bottle.

Illya quickly wrote on the form her signature and so did Sakura. After a few moments of looking around, Illya spotted Rin looking up at a pillar with an exasperated Shirou being held by his collar.

"Rin! We need you and Shirou to sign this!"

"Coming, midget!"

Rin stomped on over and grabbed the quill pen from Illya. She wrote her signature quickly and elegantly – like all the females of the group did – as opposed to Shirou, who did it quickly but somewhat roughly in comparison. He was probably unused to the quill pen.

Illya had also asked them if they were okay with her being the guild master, which they weren't opposed to. Rin complained, but she begrudgingly accepted when she remembered that Illya was the one with the knowledge of the game and therefore would be best to represent them.

At least she was the guild master in a guild with three inevitably overpowered players. That was something.

Illya smiled and moved to ring the bell again but the lady was still there, her hand over the bell in an open palm. Illya quickly frowned and handed over the form to the receptionist, who nodded as she inspected it.

"Everything seems to be in order," She concluded. She handed back the form to Illya. "Very well, all you have to do now is decide the name of your guild–"

"Shirou's/Onii-chan's Harem." Rin and Illya blurted out in unison.

"Illya! Nee-san!"

Shirou only responded with awkward sputtering and a palm across his face. "Please don't call our guild that."

"Fine~" Illya replied, then she rose a finger to her chin as she carefully thought of the guild name. "What about Fuyuki Four?"

"I don't like it," Rin denied, "What about Holy Grail Winners?"

Sakura frowned, "I'd… rather not be reminded of the war every time we say our guild name."

"Three hot babes and Shirou?" Illya suggested.

"No."

"What about something general…" Rin mused, "Like Tempest?"

"What does that even mean?" Illya asked as she shuffled in her armor.

"I don't know, something!" Rin whined in exasperation.

While the four of them had fought against and with beings that surpassed their imaginations, that didn't stop them from taking several minutes on deliberating the guild name. Even weirder suggestions had been thrown around like 'Berserker is King' or 'Carnival Phantasm'.

None of the names seemed to click with them at all though.

"It's not like we actually need a name right? We just need the guild for the free beds…" Rin huffed, already tired at the time they spent debating. "I don't have any ideas. What about you, Sakura?"

The plum-haired Foxtail mused quietly for a while but gave a suggestion. "What about… this?" She took the quill and form from Illya and wrote across the back of it. "What do you think?"

Shirou read it, Illya looked at it, and Rin studied it for about one second.

Rin shrugged. "Looks fine to me, not like we have any other choices."

"There's still Onii-chan's Harem."

"No means no, Illya." Shirou berated, although he had a soft smile while overlooking the name.

The albino sighed and nodded, although with a smile as she looked at the name. "Fine, I'm alright with this name anyway."

She grabbed the form and wrote the name on the correct side of the form. As she handed it in, the receptionist rose a brow. "Are you certain that this is the name you want? You cannot change the name once it has been finalized."

Illya sent a glance to Sakura and nodded. "Yeah, it's fine. We don't particularly care about the name anyway."

They just needed it for both a safe place to eat and sleep in.

The name was secondary.

The receptionist nodded. "I see, well then I suppose a congratulation is in order. Congratulations on making a guild, your accompanying room is on the fifth floor in room 503."

"There are more than FIVE HUNDRED rooms!? How!? There's not even enough space in this building for that!"

Illya ignored the Rin's surprised rant and focused on the receptionist, who handed her the key. It was an intricate design, with brass vines wrapping the head of the key and several ridges accompanying the tail of it.

"The Kunie clan welcomes 'The Emiya Family' to the guild hall."

The name was secondary, but that didn't stop the grin forming on their faces as they walked away.

"Please do not forget to pay the guild creation fee, miss adventurer."

Illya winced.

* * *

After using up around half of her gold, Illya raised their key and unlocked the door. A series of clicks occurred and the door opened. As it swung open, Illya saw how simple the room within was.

There were four wooden beds with dirty white mattresses – without blankets – and a simple and somewhat ruined rug under a rickety table. There was a window which let them see into the outside, which wasn't that exciting since the view only allowed them to see the despairing crowd of adventurers. Finally, there was a painting of a flower… which was upside down.

Starting guild rooms always looked like a dump, but Illya couldn't help but think that they drew a bad hand, even for that.

 _Not really a great start for 'The Emiya Family'…_

"This place is a dump," Rin commented.

"It's not very clean." Sakura also commented.

Shirou sighed and walked past Illya as he entered the room. "I'll get to work cleaning it."

"That can wait, Onii-chan," Illya interrupted. "I need to bring you all with me to the market so we can buy some gear for you."

"Do you need all of us?" Rin asked as she entered the room too, taking a leisure seat on the mattress, "Because if not, then I'm staying."

Illya felt her brow twitch, "And why, pray tell, do you want to stay in this room…?"

Rin snorted, "The players outside are annoying. At least here I won't be bothered."

Sakura giggled as she wiggled her ears, unknowingly dragging Shirou's attention. "In other words, Nee-san just want to catch up on some sleep."

Considering that Rin was lethargic upon waking up, it was far more believable.

Rin ignored her sister's subtle jab at her and dropped onto the bed.

Illya sighed and opened her inventory. After scrolling around for a while, Illya found what she was looking for and tap on it.

Rin soon found it was unpleasant to be hit in the head by a book.

"What in the hell was that for midget!?" She screamed in outrage.

"That wasn't nice, Illya." Shirou berated, a stern look in his eyes.

"Rather than wasting time sleeping, why don't you read that book for a while?" Illya smugly replied despite the disapproving stare she was receiving. "It's the starting book that all mage classes are given. It might help, then again in the game, it was just a book that told you the hotkeys for the game."

Rin narrowed her eyes in suspicion, "Why do you – a non-mage class – have a mage class guidebook?"

Illya didn't answer her. She already slammed the door and dragged Shirou and Sakura along with her. Rin would have screamed and run after her, but she was admittedly too tired to do that.

She was going to come back in an hour or so anyway, so why bother? Instead, Rin opted to open the book and start reading.

"Okay okay…" She muttered, "Chapter one, elemental affinities and the phenomena they relate to… Pffft– Who wrote this? An amateur?"

* * *

"Was it alright to leave Nee-san in the guild room?" Sakura asked with slight concern.

The three of them were now outside, specifically in the marketplace. Shirou had been here earlier, but he definitely didn't expect to return this soon though.

"It's fine!" Illya replied, "Like I said, no one is getting in that room without Rin wanting them to. That tsundere won't let anyone but us in."

Shirou sighed at that.

What? It mostly because it was true. Rin had grown distrusting of others, the only exceptions were her sister, lover, and Illya herself. If Rin trusted everyone she met then she'd be a failure of a Magus!

"So, where do we buy equipment?" Shirou asked, "I didn't see a blacksmith or Armorer anywhere here."

"They're further into the district," Illya replied, "The best beginner shop should be a just around this corner."

Once they turned that corner – again, avoiding the players – they were met with a small but well-maintained stall. There were a few pieces of armor placed on the stall, a few low-level weapons hanging in the back, and standing within it was a young woman wearing a dirtied apron. She had pale blond hair and a nervous look in her emerald eyes.

"The NPC has changed…" Illya muttered, "There used to be a burly old man here."

The young woman overheard her.

"Oh, you must mean my father." She replied, which somehow surprised Illya, much to Shirou and Sakura's confusion. "I'm sorry but he went on a trip to Maihama to restock on ingots just yesterday. I-I'm standing in for him. My name is Melhia, what are you looking for?"

Illya simply stared at the girl, muttering something about the new update under her breath.

Shirou sighed and replied instead. "We're looking for some starting armor and weaponry for a swashbuckler and some starting robes for a mage and a druid."

The young woman blinked and then nodded. "We have some of those… not sure where father placed the robes… If you'll give me a moment I'll be right back with them."

When the young woman turned and walked further into the stall, away from prying eyes, Shirou turned to Illya. "Okay, what's wrong?"

Illya stared at him for a second before rubbing her forehead. "Sorry, I keep forgetting that this world isn't a game anymore. The NPC's must have lives I never knew about…"

"They didn't have families in the game?" Sakura asked as her ears twitched.

"No…" Illya muttered, "I'm actually sure that they did, but the flavor of the NPC's doesn't usually include that. These guys usually only exist to give us food or weapons whenever we needed them, provided we had the gold."

"I think you should refrain from using the term NPC," Shirou advised, "Some of these 'NPC's' are taking it as slander."

Illya tilted her head as a confused expression took hold. "… but isn't that what they are?"

"I spoke with one of them earlier this morning, Illya." Shirou said, "They act like any regular human being with a personality, they have lives and families too. Treating them like they aren't real isn't right. Someday they'll outright refuse to sell to you."

If that happened, all the NPC's having decided to collectively refuse adventurers as customers, then it would be a big deal. A really big deal. They'd lose access to commodities such as the inns, the Arcadia, and even the few quests that still existed.

"Fine. If you say so…" Illya muttered, "Let's just buy the equipment and go. I think I can still afford it."

The young woman came back out, she held two robes and a leather vest in one arm and held two scimitars in the other. "I-I'm not sure that swashbucklers have armor sir," She said nervously, "The only armor we have are for guardians, samurai, and monks. We only have light armor for swashbucklers…"

Those were the Warrior classes if Shirou recalled correctly. "That's fine, how much is it in total?"

"All of this together? I'd say around ten gold for the vest and robes each, maybe fifteen gold each for the scimitars." She said.

"Huh," Illya muttered as she opened her menu to draw out the coins. "That's like… sixty gold? Honestly lower than I was expecting. Has it been that long since I was a beginner…?"

Shirou grabbed the equipment once Illya handed over the coins… which were ridiculously oversized in width. You could forge a bracelet just by using a single coin. It was impractical in every sense of the word.

"T-Thank you for your patronage!" She stuttered out.

Illya didn't even acknowledge her and walked away. Shirou did the opposite and smiled her way. Sakura did so as well when they went to follow Illya down the street.

"You should probably equip the robes Sakura, you too Shirou," Illya informed. "They'll give a nice boost. Not too big of one though, like a twenty percent total increase in stats or something. Not too sure on the stats of lower levels."

Shirou nodded and opened his menu. It took a while to navigate, but he found the vest along with the two scimitars. He tapped on them and then tapped on the equip symbol.

In a flash of light – and a slight sense of discomfort as he felt like he was stripped – the weapons appeared buckled to his belt and a brown leather vest appeared on him, under which was a long sleeved white cloth, which Shirou was sure he had never worn before.

A brief structural grasp told Shirou that it was just a regular pair of scimitars, forged as best as the smith could. Nevertheless, they found their way into his reality marble.

In Sakura's case, her robe was pink with a flower design in the center. There was a hole in the back which let out her fluffy tail. It wasn't there in the original robe, but perhaps the 'equipping' process modified it to fit the race and gender? It did the same thing to Illya's hulking armor.

"Eh, not too bad," Illya commented. She turned and continued down the street. "Come on, we have to get to the Arcadia for Sakura and Rin's staffs. They'll probably have a beginners version available."

"Will Nee-san need a staff though…?" Sakura muttered in thought as she followed.

"She should want one," Illya replied, "It gives her more stats, meaning more spells cast. Staffs often increase spell damage and wands decrease cast time. Rin will probably want a wand though… A staff is optimal for healing so we're getting you a staff Sakura. You okay with that?"

Sakura dumbly nodded, not too sure. She wasn't really going to argue, Illya was the most knowledgeable so it was best to trust her. Sakura wouldn't actually mind either way.

Within a few minutes of walking, they arrived before a somewhat nice-looking building. It reminded Shirou of the guild hall but on a far smaller scale, with there being hardly any vines or overgrowth.

The door swung open automatically, which surprised Shirou and Sakura, but Illya moved on as if nothing odd had occurred. They entered and found it to be very well maintained. Books were stacked neatly on shelves, chairs off to the side with a few display cases holding a staff or two, but they had text saying 'do not touch' so they were just for display.

A young woman in a stereotypical wizard's hat, something that Rin would be irritated about, stood behind a counter reading a book. Upon closer inspection, the book seemed to be the same one that Illya had thrown to Rin earlier.

Illya simply walked up to the counter. "I need a beginner staff for a druid and a beginner wand for a sorcerer!" Shirou sent her a look and Illya frowned. "… please?"

Shirou nodded satisfied. The gesture seemed to be appreciated by the woman, who nodded to Illya. "Just wait a moment, I'll be right back." She made her way to the back, presumably the stockroom of the store.

"So this is the Arcadia?" Sakura muttered, "It looks very tidy."

"Don't try to steal anything," Illya added, "I'm not sure how it works after the update, but these used to be just for decoration. Not anymore though, I recognize some of these books."

Shirou walked up to a bookshelf and traced its cover, "Advanced mana application: Enchanter's edition? Elements for you and me, by Aurelio the Wizard? The Kannagi Basics?"

"All of them used to be skill books, consumable items that can be used to increase your stats." Illya said, "Since coming to this world, most of the consumable books must have become actual books with text in them. You can still use the books for the stat increase though…"

Illya had trailed off once she looked over one of the books. "Oh look, it even has history books. Not too sure if we'll need them, but it can't hurt to buy one right?" Illya asked, looking to Shirou for confirmation.

He simply shrugged, "I trust your judgment here, Illya. I wouldn't mind learning the history."

"Couldn't Illya-chan just tell us though?" Sakura asked. Illya snorted in response.

"I played Elder Tale for fun, not for a history lesson." She retorted, "I know a basic overview, but nothing detailed. If this world has changed to accommodate NPC's by giving them backstories, then it isn't unreasonable to assume that the events in these previously just-for-flavor history books, actually did occur. Who knows? Maybe we could find some lost Alven artifacts if we looked hard enough."

"Alven? Don't you mean Elven, like for elves?" Sakura asked.

Illya shook her head, "Nope, the Alv was an ancient race in the Elder Tale lore. They went extinct after intermingling with humans to recover from a war against Elves, Dwarves, and Humans. Only their descendants, the Half-Alv's, exist today. I'm pretty sure that they get storyline bonuses for dungeons and events."

"History lesson aside…" Shirou muttered, "I think it's best we paid for the items. The store clerk has been waiting for a while now."

Illya blinked and sent a glance to the young mage, holding a wand and a staff out to her with an irritated expression.

"… Oops?"

"Here are the beginner druid staff and the beginner sorcerer wand." She said, "Thank you for your patronage… or something."

Or something?

"… Right…?" Illya muttered, seeing the woman had placed the equipment on the counter and began reading her book. "… Is she ignoring me?"

Sakura stifled a giggle as she nodded. "It certainly seems that way."

"Let's just pay for the dumb stuff and go…" Illya pouted.

After swiftly paying for the equipment, Illya promptly urged Sakura to equip her staff as they walked back to the guild hall. Sakura did so and after a flash of light, a simple wooden and gnarled staff appeared on her right palm. There was nothing exceptionally notable about it whatsoever.

"Now you look less like a complete newbie." Illya commented, "Come on guys, if we make it back in time then we can have lunch. Hopefully, Rin didn't burn down our room."

Shirou frowned, "I'm not looking forward to lunch."

Blasphemous words coming from his mouth, but considering the odd laws of the world they were in, the two girls understood and nodded in empathy.

"I heard ingredients still tasted the same," Illya supplied, "We could eat raw fish with rice maybe? I think I have some sauce in my inventory."

"Wouldn't that still count as cooking though?" Sakura reminded her as she thought back to the disastrous attempt at barbecuing the sausages.

Illya frowned at the memory and rubbed her chin. "I guess eating plain bread is fine right?"

None of them wanted to acknowledge the fact – especially the two home cooks –but at least they all knew that it was better than the soggy trash that they had eaten beforehand.

" _Hey look, a fight."_

" _Idiots, the Royal guards still work."_

Shirou, Sakura, and Illya directed their gaze forward only to see two players, one a Wolf Fang warrior and the other an Elf Samurai, crashing heads at each other as others watch in exasperation.

" _That's the third one today."_

" _Just ignore it, it'll stop eventually."_

Shirou glanced upward as a flash of lightning took hold, in its place was a heavy set of bulwark armor. Dark blue in shade with fluorescent lights traveling around the body. It held a giant blue axe with a fluorescent tint to the blade.

Illya sighed, "Some people just don't know what to do."

Sakura laughed nervously, "Can you blame them?"

"Yes, I can. You can't control your circumstances but you can control your reactions to it." Illya retorted, "Isn't that right, Onii-chan?"

Upon receiving no reply, she turned her view to her elder brother, only to find him simply standing and staring at the Royal Guard who quickly smacked both players into the ground.

"Is something wrong, Shirou?" Sakura asked concerned.

His only reply was a blink as the Royal Guard disappeared. "Well, that's… interesting."

"What's interesting?" Illya asked.

"That armor has a person inside, it's completely augmenting his physical abilities to be higher than even a level ninety player. By being linked with the local ley lines, the armor can instantaneously transport itself anywhere within the city limits. Although it isn't limitless, the armor has to be recharged after each deployment." He informed. "They were also forged by the now extinct Alv's that you told us about."

Illya blinked. Then she sent a careful gaze around them and felt relieved that there was nobody still there, save for the two unconscious players.

"That's… interesting?" Sakura muttered.

"I can also trace them."

Illya simply froze. "I must be going crazy… but I think I just heard you say that you can trace a Royal Guard's armor. Which I might add, can set you to the max level as long as you are wearing it."

Shirou nodded. "I can do it, but since they're not swords it'll take half of my mana. They are still weapons in an odd way."

Illya opened her mouth to say something, but shut it and rubbed her forehead.

"I'm surrounded by game-breaking abilities…"

No other words were said as Illya walked back to the guild hall with a noticeable slump in her step.

* * *

Illya somberly turned the key and entered their guild room.

Finally. Illya could relax after a day of– Why was there a bounded field in their guild room?

"It's about time you guys got back!" Rin shouted, "I was getting bored. The book you gave me was a piece of shit by the way. It didn't tell me anything I didn't already know and used an archaic form of prana gathering for almost all of its spells. The writer could have lowered the cost of everything by at least thirty percent, filthy amateur."

A few moments of silence quickly recovered by Illya closing the door for privacy and simply staring at Rin. "What."

"Don't sweat it midget, I'll teach you all the spells later if you want." She said with a smug smirk.

However, Illya wasn't actually caring about learning those spells, what she was focusing on, was the elemental orb in her grasp.

In her palm was an orb of fire, surrounded by a gale of wind, covered by a veil of steaming water, and littered with floating clots of dirt.

There were no spells that did that.

"What is that?" Illya asked.

Rin raised a brow. "What? This thing? For now, it's just a blob of elements. Not perfect or stable at all and it doesn't even do anything, but I can probably do something with it later after some experimenting."

"How did you…" Illya muttered but shook her head and rubbed her temple, "You know what? Nope, not even going to acknowledge that thing. How did you make a bounded field Rin?"

"Oh, the bounded field?" Rin mused, "That was easy. Since I reverse engineered the first spell, I figured out how to tap into the measly reserves that this body has. From there I just used the energy to create a standard bounded field. It's easier than before, probably has something to do with the fact that this is a game world, as much as it pains me to admit. Oh yeah, did you know that I now have a skill that can create a miniature Bounded Field but it will constantly use half of my mana? Weird right?"

… Illya was going to save this discussion for another day.

Right now? She walked over to her bed as she ignored the calls she was getting from the others. Illya unequipped her armor, dropped face down onto the bed and tuned everything out.

She might as well just forget that rules and mechanics existed in the first place.

* * *

 **A/N: A tad bit shorter than the first chapter by around 1-2k words, but it gets the job done.**

 **As you can already tell with this fic, it will chronicle the journey of The Emiya Family across the world of Elder Tale... or was it Yamato? Meh, basically I thought this was a nice idea for a crossover and went with it. Hopefully, people could see the potential in fics like these, probably not but I can hope for miracles.**

 **I should post another chapter of this next month or the month after. This isn't a big priority when compared to My Ideal Academia, but it comes close.**

 **You can already tell that these characters are going to break the system. Not now or anytime soon, but later when they get a higher level (however long that will take).**

 **I don't really know what else to leave in this A/N... but I suppose I can safely say that this story won't affect the upload times of My Ideal Academia.**

 **Leave a review on things I missed or errors I've made about the world. I'm not fully knowledgeable of Log Horizon as much I am to Fate Stay Night, but because no one else is writing a fanfic for this, I might as well do it. It was the same thought process that made me write My Ideal Academia when all I found were less than acceptable pieces of literature.**

 **Basically, point out all errors.**

 **Kappa.**

 **A/N 2: Fixed some minor errors as well as a major one.**

 **It has come to my attention (Courtesy of 'ptl') that the Royal Guard armor is not a golem, but has a person inside, meaning controlled by Landers. This is a welcome piece of information that had slipped my initial viewing. It definitely helps me in the future of the story don't get me wrong, but it is off-putting to realize that I didn't realize it in the first place. I saw the anime (both seasons) and I'm just baffled how I forgot. Maybe it's been too long since I watched it, I'll probably binge-watch it again at a later date.**


	3. Chapter 3: Baby Steps

**Chapter 3**

 **Beta: Worldbringer of Joseun**

* * *

Illya rubbed her forehead as she walked within the market zone, taking in the sights of both the hardworking Non-Player Characters and the contradicting despairing players.

She had woken up far earlier than any of her family members and decided to go to the marketplace in order to both purchase a few potions – which she had neglected to restock on but that could be excused seeing as she had been dragged into Elder Tale before she could do so – and to set a few records straight within her own mind.

Illya gazed at the NPC's, all of whom were either trying – and failing – at selling some of their goods to other players, or trading and bartering with fellow NPC's.

Illya frowned as she recalled her brother's advice on the subject of NPC's, a warning about calling them NPC's vocally. She personally didn't care much for it, but she supposed changing her way of referring to them would have long-lasting benefits if they were to continue living in this world.

She wouldn't want to live in a place where the local populace held animosity for her, it would be bad for her health.

– _If she could even be sick anymore._

She would have to perform experiments on her body when she had gotten the rest of the Emiya Family to a suitable level for survival.

The only question was 'how' would she exactly go with accomplishing that? She had a location in mind, a low-level zone with only a handful of level 1 to 3 monsters, none of which could really threaten her or her allies.

There was the variable of unknown threats coming from the Novasphere Pioneers expansion as well, which really put a damper on any plans Illya made. It was a risk she didn't want to take without insurance. What if there was a raid boss just lurking around in the forest?

Illya repressed a shudder at the thought. She didn't want to risk her family, but heading out there might be the only way possible for her to do so.

She'd need to use the Teacher system of course if she wanted to let them gain levels, otherwise, she'd end up with some experience that could have been for her guildmates.

As Illya was about to contemplate on what kind of armor to purchase for her inevitable decline in level, a pillar of white light sprouted out from atop the concrete canopy, reminiscent of a burst of miraculous energy.

Illya took the moment to cover her eyes at the phenomenon. Her thoughts ran rampant at the possible speculations of what could be occurring. Was it an attack on the city from some unknown factor? Perhaps it was worse and the NPC's of other in-game nations like the Izumo knights attacking them!?

Illya didn't know but she had to somehow confirm for sure.

Whilst everyone else was still blinded by the burst of light, Illya ran across the streets, relieved at the fact that she had gotten very used to running in her new body height.

Other players soon caught on to what she was doing and followed a crowd mentality, they followed her until she reached the source of the pillar of light, just in time to see the pillar recede into–

–– _The chapel?_

Illya blinked as the light faded and focused on the chapel's tall and imposing doorways, its hinges creaking as the other players started to gather around her. Admittedly, Illya had called out her axe in case of any coming threat despite the fact they were in a safe zone.

She was nervous and wanted some sort of protection from whatever that pillar of light was.

Illya kept her breathing calm and steady as the doors fully opened. Footsteps echoed out within as a lone figure walked out, its legs hesitantly taking steps forward as it took in its surroundings.

It was a player.

* * *

The rest of the Emiya Family woke up earlier than usual, mostly due to the fact that they each had gone to bed after Illya had in order to have more slumber.

This naturally meant that Rin wasn't as grumpy as she usually was in the morning, so Illya wouldn't need to douse her in water, again.

That thought faded when they noticed the fact that Illya, the guild master of their recently created tenure, had mysteriously vanished.

There had been just a bit of panic on their part, but luckily Sakura remembered the fact that their 'menu' could be used to send a message to her. Rin took it upon herself to send the message.

Luckily, Illya didn't waste any time in replying and said that she was coming back. She was in the marketplace to buy some potions because she had forgotten to purchase some yesterday. There was something else she had wanted to impart, but it could wait until Illya got back.

So, in light of their recent free time, the Emiya Family chose to wait patiently with Shirou peacefully meditating – a past time he had developed ever since obtaining Archer's arm – and Sakura silently watching him do so with a subtle smile on her lips as she scrolled through her own menu.

All except for Rin, who was far too busy trying to figure out how to best utilize the blob of elements she had conjured yesterday. The magus considered turning it into an offensive spell of some sort, but the haphazard collusion of elements would just weaken whatever effect the spell could have had overall, jack of all trades and all that.

Their wait did not last long as the door creaked open and Illya stepped in. However, there was no trace of her usual carefree demeanor. In its place, a serious expression took hold with just a bit of inner conflict.

Something was wrong, they all knew that.

"Is something wrong, Illya-chan?" Sakura asked as her new ears twitched involuntarily.

Illya regarded her for a second before she breathed in slowly and nodded to herself in some sort of confirmation.

"Long story short, someone died and came back to life."

Rin's concentration faded as the orb of haphazard elements broke apart violently, marring her face with a bit of soot, water, and dirt. In turn, the twin-tailed magus frowned and twitched violently in irritation at the result.

Shirou was thankfully prepared and grabbed a wet towel – which he had found in the bathroom – to wipe her face clean. Once she was clean, Rin smiled his way with gratitude before she focused on the matter at hand.

"Elaborate," Rin ordered. There was no nonsense or her usual fiery attitude present. That was understandable. After all, with the news she was given, it may very well change their understanding of this world.

"Early in the morning, I went to buy potions, right?" Illya started, "After that, there was a commotion when a literal pillar of light erupted. A crowd had formed in front of the chapel, which was where the light came from. Luckily I was already near the front so I could see what it was…"

Illya sighed to herself as she continued, "… What I saw was a player laughing to himself hysterically. 'I came back to life' he said, followed by more hysterical laughter."

Silence was what took hold afterward. Illya swore she heard Rin swallow some spit to clear her throat.

"So… you're completely sure that he wasn't just crazy?" Rin asked with skepticism.

"In the game, the last chapel we visit is where players respawn after they die anywhere in the world." Illya informed, "The player told everyone that he died after fighting monsters outside Akihabara. He was level sixty, around my level so he must have been fighting near the mountains."

"Does this mean that we can respawn too…?" Sakura asked, somewhat hesitant to do so. The prospect of reviving from the dead sounded exciting, but everyone in the Emiya Family had come from magically-rich backgrounds.

A boon like re-spawning after death… something like that would not come without risk.

Illya solemnly nodded. "Yes, no doubt about it. As much as I hate to say it, this means we shouldn't have to worry about dying against high leveled monsters."

"So what? We're some kind of pseudo-Dead apostle ancestor?" Rin tried clarifying to an extent, "Immortality is completely unnatural. Either Gaia or Alaya should have done at least something about it if this many 'players' defy the natural cycle of life and death."

Once more, Rin's magus heritage and upbringing was making itself known.

"For now, we have to assume that both Gaia and Alaya don't exist in this world." Illya said, "Following that, we – or rather all of you – have to level up. Which means we need to kill monsters outside Akihabara."

Shirou and Rin simply nodded.

Sakura brought up a question, "But isn't that risky? We still aren't sure if the revival process is chance-based? We could still… die."

Considering what Sakura went through during the Holy Grail War, Illya couldn't really fault her for the logic she had. However, they had to get stronger and gain levels. There was no telling what shared immortality would do for the people in this world nor what the shift in the social hierarchy would be.

"All the more reason to get stronger," Illya declared, "So that we don't have to live our lives feeling that we can't do anything."

They could be immortal, but that didn't mean they were strong yet. There are others that were far stronger than them, ninety levels stronger, and who knows what they would resort to doing.

That needed to change.

The discovery of immortality was, without a doubt, going to change the player controlled city of Akihabara, and Illya wasn't sure if she was going to like the outcome.

* * *

The Forest zone, the zone that spawned a few slimes at level one and wolves at level two. It is the first place that new players were advised to go to get started on leveling.

Illya took a breath and turned to face the rest of her guild. It felt weird to call her brother and technical sisters 'her guild' but she should start getting used to it.

This zone was the first step for everyone in the Emiya Family to get stronger.

"Gross, gross, gross! It's on my shirt!"

"Nee-san! Calm down!"

"Shirou! Stab the snot-glob already!"

Illya tried very hard not to slam her head onto a tree. Rin easily killed a slime with her own fiery version of Gandr but was unprepared for the shower of green gore that it created.

Odd, seeing as whenever she or Shirou killed a slime, it evaporated into the commonly seen bubbles of experience from her time playing Elder Tale. Although, they had killed the slimes by slashing them with precision, which didn't really disturb much of the blob-like membrane.

Explosions? That would very much do so.

Sakura, on the other hand, had yet to kill anything. However, she was level 2 from simply soaking in experience points in comparison to Shirou and Rin who were level 3 – not that the idea of soaking experience made any sense to the magi. Experience is gained through hardships or something like that.

"Rin, the slime will disappear in a bit," Like all the corpses in this world seemed to do, "Just focus on killing the slimes and the occasional wolf. We'll move up to fight stronger monsters later on."

"Are we really getting stronger by doing this?" Shirou asked as he stabbed a weakened wolf with the scimitar they had bought. He frowned as it dispersed into bubbles of experience points. "Other than the numerical increase, it doesn't feel like we're getting stronger."

"Numbers are everything in MMO's, Onii-chan." Illya simply stated, "Also, why are you using the scimitars? I thought you'd trace Kanshou and Bakuya and be done with it?"

"I wanted to try to use these blades." Shirou defended, "They aren't bad and get the job done."

"But they're low leveled," Illya stated bluntly.

"I'll use a Noble Phantasm if the situation calls for it," Shirou stated.

Illya begrudgingly nodded at it.

A short distance away, Rin sent a Finn Gale towards another slime with a wave of her wand. She was clearly not used to using one – evident by the frown she wore on her face – but she remembered to stand a few meters away so that the shower of green didn't hit her.

"By the way midget," Rin called, "Why are you level five? I could've sworn you were higher than us before."

 _More than twenty times higher actually…_

Illya shook away the thought and proceeded to answer. "I'm using another in-game system to lower my level."

She was level five, which meant that she wasn't wearing her trademarked armor. She was reduced to a simple plate-mail set with little defense to offer. Her normal armor had a level requirement to use so these were the next best thing. This also included her axe, meaning she was stuck using a simple woodcutters axe that she had bought earlier in the morning.

Unfortunately, she didn't have a helmet. Which meant that her wolf-like ears were exposed to the air which brought odd sensations to her. Illya had no idea how Sakura was capable of withstanding it.

Her stats took a dip too, with her HP being just above eight hundred while her original HP being about six thousand five hundred. She had only enough mana to perform a few of her skills without running out.

"Why would you lower it?" Shirou asked after looking at the forest zone. He saw no other monsters around, "Wouldn't it be safer for you to be at a higher level with your sturdier armor?"

"I'm agreeing with Shirou on this one, midget."

Illya sighed and nodded. She could certainly see their reasoning, but…

"The system is aptly named the 'Teacher System'," Illya started, "In the game, monsters focus on the highest leveled player. While I'm still higher than all of you, it's not by a significant margin. If I was ten levels higher than you then the monsters would all focus on me."

"So this is a way for us to combat monsters without them being distracted by you?" Shirou muttered, "Wouldn't it be easier for us to kill monsters if they were distracted by you?"

Illya nodded a bit, "True, but then again we could get used to mindlessly attacking monsters without regard for our mana and positions. Look around! Aren't we all in wonderful combat positions already?"

Somewhat true. Illya herself was near the front with Shirou while Rin and Sakura were at the back, figuratively. "This way, we can deal with incoming monsters better."

"But aren't you the tank?" Rin asked, the roles of tank, healer, support, and damage dealer having already been explained to them earlier. "The one whose supposed to be the main target of every monster? So what? Are you a shitty tank?"

"You can't always rely on me to pick up your slack, Rin."

"Such an unreliable tank~"

Illya scoffed, but it changed into a giggle shortly after. "In all seriousness though, if I were my normal level then I'd be gaining some of the EXP that you all should be getting. This way, I don't gain any experience and all of you get the full benefit."

It wasn't like she would need the experience from a bunch of mobs nearly a tenth of her level.

Before Rin could come up with any sort of witty remark, a sound took their attention.

The sound of bushes ruffling in front of them.

Illya brought up a woodcutter's axe, Shirou readied the bought scimitars, and Sakura clutched her staff.

Several pairs of red glowing eyes crawled out of the undergrowth.

Those eyes belonged to five– no, six wolves steadily stepping out of the bushes. They had a sheen of messy silver fur ruffling as they walked towards them.

"A pack of Rabid wolves," Illya muttered, "A rare spawn in this zone. They're consisting of level five to seven monsters, six wolves in total. Usually known as the newbie killers."

Rin sent her a look at the relay of information. Most likely being confused for a short second.

Once you remembered that Illya was part of a guild once upon a time, it wasn't odd if you thought about it. She must have gained some team playing skills back there.

"That's reassuring…" Shirou muttered back, although his eyes did not leave the slowly approaching pack.

Illya herself was not that worried, she knew that she could take on the entire pack herself – even with the restriction of abilities she had while being level five – but at the same time, she was wary that these monsters had changed in some way or form with the new expansion.

Then again, she was now immortal, so being wary was somewhat counter-intuitive–

Illya culled the thought before it could finish. If she thought she was invincible to every attack, then she'd get sloppy.

Granted she hadn't fought much ever since she was incarnated into Elder Tale, but she liked to think that her combat experience in the Holy Grail War brought her an advantage.

The same could be said of the rest of the Emiya Family. Sakura aside, Rin was looking at the wolves like some annoying gnat that interrupted their conversation while Shirou simply stared without much worry.

In comparison to god-like Servants, they've faced far worse than a few mangy wolves. It'd take something like a giant boss monster to get them completely worried. Maybe if they were a raid boss, then they'd worry.

Although, those wolves did remind Illya of some bad memories.

"So, how do we take these things out?" Shirou asked as he displayed his usual caution.

"Once the Alpha dies, which is the slightly larger one, the pack will go into a frenzy that boosts their stats, so aim for him last," Illya informed. "Other than that, not much different from a normal pack of wolves."

That was what caused most new players to die, they fought these wolves expecting the same thing. Usually when attacked by a pack of wolves, killing the alpha would cause the other wolves to either retreat or lose all cooperation among themselves.

It was funny for more experienced players to see newbies die to the tactic though, Illya wasn't going to deny that.

"Got it," Shirou nodded at the information.

"So midget, are you going to use that taunt skill or should I just attack now?" Rin asked. Luckily, Illya had taken the time to explain how aggro worked in Elder Tale so Rin didn't just blast them with her Gandrs and drag all the monsters towards her.

Illya sent a glance to Rin's health and mana bar on her menu, "It'd be better if you wait a bit and regenerate your mana, you're only at fifty percent. I'll draw all their attention so take the time to deal steady damage. Also, don't forget to keep an eye on your mana."

After Rin's reluctant nod, Illya took several strides forward which brought upon her the attention of the pack.

The Alpha barked, most likely orders to its brethren, and the five other wolves charged towards her.

She had put herself between the wolves and the enemy so she'd be the first target they'd attack, this was what she was preparing for. The Guardian class had only two skills at level five and one of them was well suited to this situation.

" **Taunting Blow!"**

The skill was a simple aggro skill to draw the attention of monsters towards her,

The woodcutter's axe glowed with mystic light as it soared through the air, impacting one of the wolves that chose to charge from her left. The impact took off a quarter of its health, not so much in the grand scheme of things, but it dragged the attention of the other wolves who were about to charge at Sakura and Rin.

Illya saw pure and unadulterated hatred in each of their eyes.

Once more, it reminded her that while this world may look like the same game she played in her downtime, these monsters could be said to be just as real as any player out there. Emotions included.

They roared and charged her down, exposing their backs and creating an opportunity for Shirou to rush in and deal over half a bar's worth of damage to a separate wolf.

Illya sent a glance back to the rest of the wolves and hit one aside with her axe. She got hit from behind and winced. The pain was something she was used to so she didn't really care. Although, the pain she would have felt seemed to have been dulled somewhat, most likely with the limited protection of her level five armor.

The wolf that attacked her from behind burst into EXP bubbles as a Finn Fire hit it from behind which caused Illya to widen her eyes in slight surprise.

How much damage does that spell have!? Rin was level three and that wolf was level five, it should have done at most two-thirds of its health.

Illya then remembered that Rin didn't bother to acknowledge the reality of her absurd damage output and instead shot another Finn Fire at a different wolf, this time not killing it in one hit but instead leaving its health at twenty percent.

Rin didn't look too pleased with that result. She didn't get to correct her mistake when Shirou leapt and dealt the final blow to that wolf.

Two wolves down already and four left to go, a surprisingly nice outcome.

" **Heal!"** Sakura shouted as she cast the most basic skill that her class had. It simply healed an ally for a substantial amount of health, but the rate of the heal took its time. In layman's terms, a heal-over-time effect.

Illya saw her health bar slowly rise back to ninety percent, which was great seeing as she had been at sixty percent a while ago. Luckily, neither Rin's magical attack nor did Shirou's culling of their kin draw much aggro.

However, she didn't want to take any chances and used another Taunting Blow on the same wolf, lowering her mana to thirty percent. She only had enough for one more skill.

Being low leveled again was truly annoying.

"The Alpha's moving!" Sakura shouted in warning as she eyed the larger wolf charging towards Illya.

Illya kept an eye on it and frowned. In the usual Elder Tale, she would have used an item like a smoke ball to deter its charge, but with the menu being clunky as it is, consumable items aren't as convenient as a button set to a hotkey anymore.

"Rin!" Illya shouted.

"Already doing it!" Rin retorted.

Even as a non-magical class, Illya felt the energy of the surging mana as it passed by her, a combination of both wind and fire affinities infused with a single Gandr.

Upon impact the larger wolf appeared to have been taken by surprise and crashed into another wolf, its health dropping to fifty percent.

It didn't kill it thankfully, even though Rin had just combined her Gandr variants. It was probably haphazardly done, meaning it was either weaker or stronger than her usual Gandr variant and could be improved upon.

However, the nagging thought in the back of her mind complained at the absurdity of the skill.

The wolf that had been hit by its Alpha yelped from under it, health at sixty percent. This confused Illya somewhat, seeing as none of them had attacked that specific wolf.

Illya charged at the wolf she had initially attacked with Taunting Blow and took it out with a few hacks to its skull. Now only two remained, one of them being the Alpha.

Illya stumbled a bit and charged at the weaker wolf while Shirou took off towards the Alpha. He slashed and weaved under each and every clawed attack that it tried to deliver with ease. As expected of someone who could go toe-to-toe with a few Servants.

A Finn Fire was shot towards the Alpha, who had enough cognition to try to dodge the attack but was unable to due to the two scimitars stuck in its gut, which all but prevented its movement.

The Alpha cried out in pain as it burst into bubbles of experience. Before the last wolf could gain a power-up, Illya used the first skill all Guardians learned to intercept it.

" **Cross Slash!"**

It was a skill usually performed with the standard starting sword. However, because Illya had an axe, the movement her body followed was less of two consecutive slashes and more two downward swings of her axe.

The skill did its job and killed the final wolf before it could gain the frenzied buff. Illya remained vigilant and took in the surrounding zone, much like Shirou and Rin were doing.

Surprise attacks were something they weren't looking forward to, but in this case, they didn't have to worry. The forest remained quiet for a solid minute before Rin exhaled in annoyance.

"That's it? I honestly expected more," Rin complained.

Sakura nervously laughed at that as she cast Heal on the slightly damaged Shirou. Illya simply sighed, "Well we didn't die, so that's good. How's everyone doing with their mana?"

"Thirty percent," Sakura chimed.

"Looks like I have around twenty-five percent left," Rin answered.

"Still full," Shirou informed.

Illya blinked slowly and then decided to take a look at her menu – berating herself for asking instead of looking at it earlier – only to find that Shirou had a full bar of mana.

"Onii-chan, care to explain why you didn't use any skills?" Illya calmly asked, "I can understand not using any earlier when we were killing slimes and lone wolves, but the Swashbuckler's 'Double slash' would have been useful here."

Shirou frowned ever so slightly as he answered. "I personally don't like the feeling of my body moving for me. I prefer using my own swordsmanship in battle."

Illya sighed in frustration at the action, even though she knew that it was very much like her adopted brother to do so.

Illya recalled the battle they had earlier. Shirou did, in fact, manage to block attacks and redirect them which lessened the need to be healed by Sakura. Illya herself didn't do much in that regard as she took blows instead of trying to block or parry.

She honestly expected her body to automatically block for her or something, as it already moved to perform any skills she wanted… That was a dangerous thought process. Like Shirou, she should rely more on her own battle prowess.

Even though she had no idea about axe-wielding techniques. Maybe she should ask Shirou to train her in those things in their downtime?

"Okay, let's ignore that for now." Illya started, "We should rest and focus on what to do next. Stick around and grind experience here or find a tougher location?"

It would be faster to go to the slightly higher level zones, but safer in the zone they were in. No players would even bother coming here anyway – they'd be too focused on farming in the higher leveled zones with their guilds – so they didn't have to worry about the recent player killers.

Not that Illya would tell Shirou of the existence of those players. He might have thrown his dream away for Sakura, but throw someone in danger before him and he'd still try to save them in a heartbeat.

"I vote that we leave," Rin said as she put in her own two cents, "These slimes creep me out and the monsters are too easy to kill."

"But we'll run the risk of meeting stronger players, right?" Sakura mentioned.

Rin scoffed, "It'll be fine, right? It's not like we can die anyway."

"We shouldn't take death lightly." Sakura scolded, "The revival process could be chance-based, remember? We still run the risk of death."

"You have a point…" Rin frowned at that. Illya couldn't really deny that either, not until she saw more people revive to confirm it's 100% accuracy. It was a concept they didn't like. In hindsight, she should have done that earlier and waited until they went on their grinding trip.

"How about we go to the higher level zones once we confirm that we truly can't die?" Illya suggested.

The rest agreed on the suggestion and started to rest. Once their mana and health got back to full they'd go hunt some more monsters. If they're lucky, then they'll find more Rabid wolves again.

"By the way, did any of you get any rare drops?" Illya asked innocently.

"" _What's a drop?""_

Illya blinked before realizing something very crucial.

She'd forgot to explain to them that monsters dropped items upon death.

This meant that they had to walk back and grab the dropped wolf pelts, slime cores, and other gold or potions that could have been there.

They had also killed a lot of monsters.

 _This was going to be a long day._

* * *

At the present, the Emiya Family had taken to resting in the guild room. Shirou, with Sakura's help, was fixing everyone's beds before they slept, which left Illya and Rin to sit near the center table. The chairs had been given on request, but it had cost Illya some gold.

 _Stingy Kunie clan… A hundred gold for a few chairs was pushing it!_

Despite the debacle at the end, Illya was admittedly happy they spent the entire day hunting down monsters. With the exception of Illya, they had all risen in level considerably. Shirou and Rin had found themselves at level seven, despite the fact none of them bothered to use the standard skills that each class had.

Sakura was at level five, mostly because she didn't kill any monster by herself despite her sister's urging. It just didn't sit well with the younger sister.

Although they could understand her wishes. Sakura had seen enough killing during the Holy Grail War. The Matou could tolerate killing monsters but was always hesitant to kill them herself. At least she could gain experience by healing.

Considering they had all surpassed the level five mark, they now had two skills each. Sakura had access to her first technically offensive spell, Root Snare. It was 'technically offensive' because it the only spell she had that dealt damage.

The spell bounded a single target for around two seconds while dealing damage over time. It can be upgraded to deal more damage or ensnare for longer, but that required skill points that could be used for newer skills.

Rin, being the overpowered sorcerer she was, didn't even use the skill point and kept a hold on it. After all, why use it to gain new spells when she can make her own spells? Illya honestly thought it was a good idea, this way she could get the mana regeneration passive once she reached a higher level and max it out early.

Shirou didn't even use skills, so kept the skill points for later as well.

All in all, it was a successful grinding trip.

"Hey, Illya-chan." Sakura called, "Do you know what an EXP pot is? I have two in my inventory but I don't really know what they're for. I've been meaning to ask you but you seemed stressed today."

… _scratch that, their grinding trip was an inefficient disaster._

"I wish you told me that you had them earlier. I forgot those things existed…" Illya said as her fingers rubbed her skull, trying to prevent a migraine from developing. "Just… don't use those potions yet. We'll use them during our next grinding trip. They're potions that increase the percentage of experience gain. It would have been better if we used them earlier, but we can't change the past."

For some reason, Illya felt that a certain Bowman was weeping but for the life of her she couldn't figure out why?

Sakura felt a depressed frown rising from her as her Foxtail ears drooped in sadness. Shirou offered a comforting rub of her back, a pleasant smile taking shape. "It's okay Sakura, none of us bothered to ask about it so we're all at fault."

"How do these potions even work?" Rin questioned, holding a standard mana potion alongside a standard health potion. "If these were in our world, magi around the world would pay a huge price just to have samples of it."

Admittedly, they reminded Illya of juice. She was disappointed to learn that they tasted like water. Very disappointed.

"I don't know," Illya replied, "It's something to take a look into at a later date. For now, we should focus more on urgent topics."

Urgent topics such as how to properly maximize the efficiency of their grinding alongside the EXP pot. Hell, Illya was tempted to grab a few from them so she could use it in the future. It'd help speed her up to level ninety.

 _For the benefit of the guild of course._

"You're right about that. Speaking of urgent, do you have any more books on magic?" Rin asked as she set aside the beginner spell book, completely missing the point of Illya's words. "I've already memorized the basics so now it won't be able to help me craft better spells."

Illya sent Rin a glance and decided to humor her, "I can guide you to the Arcadia tomorrow if you want. There are lots of books there, not sure if they have a practical use though."

Then again, she wasn't sure on the practical use of that beginner's mage book, but it apparently helped Rin create a ball of elements.

Rin considered it for a short while before nodding at the idea.

"I thought we were grinding tomorrow though?" Sakura voiced out her concern once she was done fixing her bed. "If Nee-san goes to the Arcadia, then what are we supposed to do?"

Illya took a short while to consider it before shrugging. "Explore with Onii-chan, I guess? You two need to be more acquainted with the city, especially you Rin. You just stayed in the guild room for the entirety of yesterday."

Rin pouted but nodded alongside her sister. Shirou didn't really mind and nodded at the suggestion too, which was nice. At least Illya had no need to try and convince him.

Illya heard the familiar jingle of a message being sent to her and sighed. She navigated her menu and opened up her mailbox and found it to be from her old guild master again.

While Rin was comfortably crawling into her bed, Illya read the contents of the message. She frowned once she finished reading it.

Well, there went their plans for tomorrow. Right out the window and into the sewers.

A meeting had been called for guild masters of smaller guilds. Illya wondered at first on how Woodstock had found out she made a guild, but then realized she could see his guild name under his own in her friend list so he must have seen the same.

Apparently, it was a meeting to discuss the current situation of Akihabara and how to equally split the farming zones, not that she had a stake on it seeing as all her members were below level forty.

Normally she would have ignored it as she technically had a monopoly over the starting zone as the better place to train up her guild…

However, it did bring up a troubling reality though. Because Illya and the rest had spent the day farming, they didn't realize what had been going on in the other zones outside the city.

From what the message told her, larger guilds had basically decided to become bullies and shove nearly everyone else around and take control of the zones.

This also meant that the players that have been deprived of grinding spots, now have absolutely nothing to do. They could do nothing else now which could– no, would lead to public unrest. Dissatisfaction was one of the first ways civilizations of any sort would collapse.

The closest kingdom to utopia, Camelot, had fallen due to the dissatisfaction of their own king's incapability of understanding them.

 _Was Akihabara going to have a similar fate befall them?_

Illya decided to put the thought process aside in favor of the rest of the message, detailing a concrete reason as to why larger guilds were doing this.

The level cap had apparently risen, so as any nerdy hardcore MMO gamer out there, they sought to reach the new maximum of level one hundred, which boggled Illya's mind seeing as she was only above halfway there.

It did remind her of how weak she was in comparison to those hardcore players, which was a reality she didn't like admitting. Would she be able to protect her family with her level like this…?

Illya forcibly snapped herself from her musing. Having thoughts like that again would help no one. Not herself or her family. Conflicts were almost never solved with words, actions spoke far louder.

"Well, that's too bad," Illya blurted out to catch everyone's attention. "Sorry about this Rin but I can't accompany you tomorrow. It appears that I have some very important business to take care of."

"What?!" Rin shouted in confusion. She looked at Illya from across the room and saw her hands extended out, accessing her menu. "Did you get an email from that old acquaintance again?"

Shirou looked on in confusion but Sakura widened her eyes in recognition.

"Yeah, I'll have to attend a meeting for smaller guilds tomorrow." Illya explained, "Knowing how meetings go, it'll probably take the whole day. Shirou and Sakura can take you to the Arcadia instead. We'll grind the day after, okay with that?"

Rin nodded, her own personal plans not really changed, while Shirou and Sakura sent each other odd glances.

"We can accompany Rin to the Arcadia," Shirou started, "Anything else for us to do? I'd rather do something productive."

It wasn't like Shirou could cook to keep himself busy anymore.

As Illya watched the dark cloud of depression set over her adoptive brother, she smiled with an idea. "I know what you guys can do tomorrow. You know how we have classes right? Druid, Sorcerer, Guardian and Swashbuckler?"

They nodded at her, which prompted her to continue. "Well, there are also subclasses. These subclasses can give you access to different special skills. For example, the blacksmith subclass lets you create your own weapons like an actual blacksmith. There's also an alchemist subclass to make potions for yourself too."

"Making your own equipment and potions sounds convenient," Shirou admitted as he tapped his chin, "We can spend less money this way… How do we get subclasses?"

"You usually need to complete quests to obtain specific ones," Illya informed, "However, with the fact that this world is real now… I'm not too sure. I think you can get the blacksmith subclass by talking with any smith so give that a go. If you want to find other subclasses then you can go explore for them, I can't list all of them for you."

 _Not that she knew where to find them but they didn't need to know that._

Shirou nodded at the idea. Although Rin voiced her own question. "What's your subclass then?"

"My subclass isn't really anything unique," Illya admitted as she answered. "My subclass is Berserker, it gives me a small percentage damage boost but it also means I take an increased percent of damage."

"Isn't that bad for you?" Rin asked, "You're the tank of our group. You shouldn't really be dying quicker than us."

"That's where my usual equipment comes in," Illya answered, "My axe, The Raging Rhapsody, gives all of my attacks a health absorption effect. Meaning as long as I'm damaging something, I'll heal back some health. In theory, I can fight forever."

The health absorption build was usually known as the 'Scarlet Knight' build. Popularized in Japan by the guild master of DDD. Illya had liked the idea of the build and built her character accordingly.

Although she was missing some more health absorption to create a fully functioning build, like more health regeneration.

She'd get that passive skill at level seventy so it was fine.

"Oh yeah, that axe." Rin muttered, "You know… you looked like some monster when you approached us wearing that huge armor and dragging that abomination on the ground."

Illya snorted and hefted the oversized axe over her shoulder. "This axe is not an abomination! It's a beautiful rare drop that took me three weeks to get!"

All true, Illya spent an entire month completing the same quest and killing the same boss over and over again to obtain the weapon. She liked its effect and its design. There was no way it was an abomination!

It also reminded her of Berserker, so it had some sentimental value, as limited as it was because it was a video game item.

"… Illya, can I see your axe?" Shirou asked. "Just for a second, there's something I want to confirm."

Illya turned to Shirou with a raised brow. "Sure, although I have to ask why?"

She opened her inventory and held the axe towards him. Shirou couldn't hold it himself because he was far too low of a level.

It was a beautiful axe. Golden metal held the majority of the axe together alongside the black-iron blades on either side. The black-iron handle was intricately chiseled to be ovate, so the user's palm could be used to direct the attack better. There were runes drawn over the blade of the axe itself, most likely how it performs the health absorption effect.

A few moments passed before he sighed. "I was right after all… Illya, where did you get that axe?"

Illya raised a brow as she answered, "There was a special quest that made me kill a boss near the Depths of Palm. I completed it and got this as a rare drop. Why?"

"I was playing on a hunch and used structural grasping on the two scimitars that we bought to see the forging process, the same as any other regular sword." He informed. "I can see the experiences that axe had even before you dragged it to meet us."

Illya narrowed her eyes and focused on her Raging Rhapsody.

Shirou took that as a sign to continue. "From what I can gather, that axe is not a solo piece. It was forged alongside a set of armor for one specific warrior. When that warrior died, he hid his equipment for a worthy successor to gather."

Illya's eyes widened in recognition. "The quest I took to obtain this weapon, I always had to kill the boss wraith knight. That monster held an axe that looked like this one." She muttered to herself as Sakura blinked at the side-mention of a wraith knight. "The quest NPC never said anything about another set of equipment though."

"What about the axes description?" Shirou asked as he recalled his scimitars had one too. Although it just said they were forged by a hard-working blacksmith.

Illya shook her head, "Nope, all it says is 'Rest well, Tulius'."

Shirou nodded at the information, "That's the warrior's name, Tulius the Golden Rhapsody."

Sakura, who had been silent up until now, suddenly spoke up with a question. "So, what does this all mean?"

"It means," Rin interjected, "That it's not just the world of the game that became real, but its recorded history as well."

"Rin, when you get to the Arcadia you should purchase a history book." Illya suggested, "It'll be better if we scanned it for events to look out for. The game's lore was developed so that large-scale events would be far easier to implement, like invasions and geographical changes. Sometime in the near future, we might be facing something like that."

Rin sighed as she nodded. "Everyday we learn more about this world but instead of feeling safer we feel more in danger. Is this bad luck? Did our luck stat drop to E-rank?"

"More likely the mythical F-rank, because even at E-rank it should be ten times better," Shirou muttered.

Illya sighed and unequipped her armor. Everyone was sighing today. "Let's just get some sleep. We have a lot to do tomorrow."

Hopefully, they wouldn't be stricken with mind-breaking revelations the next day.

 _For Illya's mental health._

* * *

 **A/N: If you noticed, the chapter was shorter than the last... again. Don't worry about that though, this chapter's main purpose was for setting up for the next chapter, which is sure to be longer. Not much of an excuse though.**

 **It would be helpful if you could leave a review on things that I ended up missing, this story is just getting started. The presence of the Emiya Family will, without a doubt, change things for the Log Horizon cast, but it will take time for such changes to set in.**

 **Also, to the one guest reviewer who said that setting them at max level would have been the better choice, I vehemently disagree. If they were the same level as the rest of the cast, that would extremely limit the things that could happen, such as the wonderous reactions that they would have to certain game elements and features. It takes away from the chance of growth for the characters and devolves the story into a 'who has the strongest skill' mess. It also removes any possible tension knowing that Shirou could just spam swords at his max level and be done with every single possible threat. It's just not a good idea. Beginning from the ground up creates a far more believable framework moving forward.**

 **The next chapter can be expected next month if my college doesn't prove to be very busy for the first semester.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Kappa.**

 **A/N 2: Completely Unnoticeable Retcon was made, pay no mind.**


	4. Chapter 4: Branching Out

**Chapter 4**

 **Beta: Worldbringer of Joesun**

* * *

On the first light of dawn, the Emiya Family had awoken.

Illya made due on her claims from last night and made her way into the other Guild's room – where the meeting was taking place – to wait until it started.

This left Sakura and Shirou to guide Rin on her way to the Arcadia.

"So, what can I expect from the place?" Rin asked them.

"I'm pretty sure that all you can find there are books and scrolls about the magic of this world," Sakura mused as she recalled her trip there, "Other than that, nothing much else worthy of note."

"Really?" Rin asked but then sighed afterward, "That sucks. Looks like we're all subclass hunting then."

"I believe that was the plan anyway, Rin." Shirou reminded with a smile.

"Don't get smart with me, Shirou." Rin warned with a stern glare, "I just thought we'd be able to spend a little free time together."

"Like a date?" Sakura asked, a hint of excitement in her tone.

"Something along those lines…" Rin mused. A simple glance over to Rin was all that was needed for the other two to notice what she was staring at, which was Shirou's groin.

"Nee-san!"

"What? We still didn't check it out." Rin defended, "Besides, it's the perfect opportunity! The midget isn't going to be there anyway."

"We have no idea how long Illya-chan's meeting will go on for!" Sakura reprimanded, "We don't know if she'll return to the dorm early or not."

Shirou found that the fact that Sakura didn't refute the idea entirely was slightly off-putting.

"Oh look over there," Shirou hastily called out to change the subject. "The Arcadia is that building over there, Rin."

Rin stopped her mental molestation of their shared lover in favor of their current task. "It looks like a dump." Rin declared.

"Everything else in this world looks just like it, Nee-san," Sakura scolded,

"It's tidier than the other buildings at least."

Which was actually a fair comparison, to be honest. All the buildings had the same overgrowth. After a while, Rin thought that the whole ruined world aesthetic that Akihabara was going for was starting to get stale.

Still wasn't as tidy as their guild room though.

"Well, I'll be busy browsing the dump for a while," Rin said, "You two can go and get a head start– but message me once you start."

"Start what?" Sakura asked, only for her to blush wildly at Rin pointing at Shirou's groin without a hint of discretion.

It was too bad that Rin had already entered the Arcadia. Otherwise, Sakura would have blushed up a commotion. Shirou was prompted to simply drag the blushing Foxtail away with a calming smile.

Rin, on the other hand, sighed upon entering the building. There wasn't even a bounded field up, what would have happened if someone snuck in with a familiar and took a few books?

Not that Rin would do that, but the lack of defenses in the Arcadia was tempting her. Luckily, she didn't have to ponder on theft for long as she walked up to the reception area.

A strange, short, and stoic girl sat there, simply reading a book.

"Excuse me?" Rin asked her, "Do you know where I can find some advanced books on magecraft?"

The short girl looked up without a hint of care. "Over to your left," she pointed out.

"Thank you," Rin offered, even if it was intentionally half-hearted.

She saw no reason to keep up an honor student persona in their new found world. Her normal mannerism would allow her to blend in with the other adventurers.

Besides, it wasn't like her a-hole magus of a father would care. The bastard was dead anyway, that'll teach him for putting Sakura up for adoption without even considering the fact that Zouken was an immortal bundle of worms.

Even though Rin could understand his decision – She was a magus after all – but seriously, couldn't he have researched the Matou head before he sent Sakura away there? Rin knew he just wanted her to become a great magus, but his callous decision without a hint of caution was blatantly ignorant.

Which meant whatever admiration and respect she once had for him had dwindled into disdain. She basically hated the blighted twat.

So in light of that, she was free to be as vulgar as she pleased.

Rin sighed and pilfered a random book from the shelf without even looking at the cover and started going through it.

"Channeling mana through sheer force of will?" Rin muttered in disgust, "If we all did that then there wouldn't be spells and incantations. This is idiotic."

She put the book back on the shelf and grabbed the adjacent book to it. This time she offered a glance to the title as she read it, Standard Evocation Mentality.

"This is trash too." Rin blurted out. What was the point of having a three-hundred page book on having the right mentality? If they can't have the mentality then they shouldn't learn in the first place.

One by one, Rin went through the books. She found a few that were useful, and as such, she kept an eye on them. Such as 'Mysteries of the World', 'Spirits and their Magic', 'Extreme Enchantments', and a few others.

The rest though? Those were utter trash.

They used and referenced the first book that Rin read in this world. In other words, they used the horribly inefficient magical 'advice' that it taught to expound on the rest of the book's subject material.

The only books that were worth reading were about the history of the world, the enchantment system – as it didn't use the linear spellcasting theory – and the books that detail monster or spirit biology.

Not that Rin knew what kind of anatomy the monsters of the world could have.

She would need to create her own private workshop on the outskirts of town to obtain test subjects. Bringing monsters into town would bring bad attention, which they couldn't afford for now.

She placed a book back in its place, which detailed how to accurately fire a fireball with a hundred pages for crying out loud.

Rin audibly sighed and grabbed one more book. Rin didn't even make it past the first page before it referenced the infernal book of sorcerer basics once more.

"This is stupid!" Rin cried out in irritation, "Are all the magi in this world retarded!?"

"What makes you say that?"

Rin blinked out of her tirade and focused on the receptionist, who was sending her an odd stare.

"You've been listening to me?" Rin asked in subtle confusion. That faded away quickly when she sighed soon after, "Sorry for being loud madam."

She had no idea what the receptionist's age was so it'd be better to assume she was older than her. Looks could be deceiving, a magus like Rin knew that very well.

"I do not mind," she said, "I wish to know why you labeled… magi as you called it, mentally hindered?"

 _Did this girl really need to ask?_

"Simple, everything that they're using is horribly inefficient." Rin answered with a haughty snort, "Everything they're using can be improved, but judging by the dates of all these books, the damn researchers are stagnant."

"Is that so…?" She muttered, a glint in her eyes as she closed the book she was reading.

Rin wasn't so sure that she liked it.

"Then would you like to converse with me in more detail?"

* * *

"Should we have really left Nee-san in the Arcadia?" Sakura asked with concern, "I don't feel like it was a good idea…"

"Rin is strong-willed, Sakura," Shirou comforted, "She'll be just fine. For now, we should go and search for a subclass to work on."

Despite the reassurance, Sakura still fell silent.

Shirou let out a soft sigh as he rubbed her shoulder with a smile, "Don't worry, she'll be fine. For now, we need to look for subclasses."

"Do you have any idea how to start?" Sakura asked.

"I have a few ideas," Shirou admitted, "–but I think I'll take the easy route and go for one of the subclasses Illya suggested."

"Which is?"

Shirou did not hesitate as he answered, "The blacksmith."

"I suppose that it suits you." Sakura allowed herself a small chuckle, "–but, do you know where or how to obtain it?"

"I can make an educated guess," Shirou replied, "I'll need to visit one of the local blacksmiths and bring up the subject. We're heading over to the stall we visited two days ago. The clerk might know."

"Ah, you mean Melhia-chan?" Sakura exclaimed in realization, stunning Shirou that she managed to remember it, "That does make sense… A blacksmith's daughter would know how to become a blacksmith." She sent a glance to their surroundings, "I recognize this street. We should be close to the stall now!"

Shirou nodded and turned a familiar corner. He let a sigh of relief pass as he recognized the familiar stall.

"Hey man! Don't cut in line!"

Shirou's gaze and relief faded as he turned to face the stall to their right, where a player – level sixty based on his indicator – was arguing with another higher-leveled player around twenty levels higher – who held a Japanese katana.

Shirou didn't know what classes they were each of, but from the katana he could only assume that the higher level player was a samurai.

"And what are you going to do about it?" The samurai mocked, "Are you going to mess with me?"

"Just because you're in a bigger guild doesn't mean that you can be a dick!"

The samurai scoffed, "Does it look like I care? I'm under orders to buy all the potions here. The Black Sword Knights need it more."

"That's unfair!"

"Don't care. If you want the potions, then go and tell Black Sword Isaac himself. You're just a mid-level swashbuckler, he won't listen to you."

 _So he was a swashbuckler…_

At that, the swashbuckler gritted his teeth and turned away. The samurai only scoffed once more and told the store clerk to grab all the potions she had.

The store clerk, who had been silent and nervously watching the exchange between the players, hastily made to prepare his order.

"… Akihabara really isn't looking too good." Sakura muttered.

Shirou could only agree with a solemn nod.

"Just ignore it, Sakura," Shirou advised.

The irony was not lost on him. Despite the inner hero within him wanting to go up to the samurai and confront him about the blatant bullying, he knew it would be a bad idea.

First, he wasn't even an eighth of the samurai's level, so that meant he could die in a single hit, ignoring the fact that the Royal Guard would spawn on them.

More importantly, he would have earned the ire of an entire guild, The Black Sword Knights, if he remembered correctly. The guild's mere name was enough to cause a player – at a higher level than Shirou himself – to back away which meant that it was a guild with some renown.

Shirou didn't want to draw that kind of firepower and animosity to his family. He didn't want Rin, Sakura, or even Illya to be in danger.

He had already chosen to sacrifice as many people as necessary to save Sakura, the choice was clear to him.

A soft touch dragged his attention. Shirou turned to Sakura, who had a soft yet somewhat saddened smile as she tugged at his sleeve in order to rub and soothe his frustrated and clenched fist.

"Come on, let's go visit Melhia-chan."

Shirou sighed as a smile took hold.

Even now, Sakura was helping him in ways he could never hope to replicate.

Seeing no reason to further delay the visit, Shirou stepped up to the stall with Sakura at his side. It was best that they focus more on the task at hand after all.

"What do you want?"

Shirou had to blink and stare at the stall they were visiting.

 _That didn't sound like Melhia._

There wasn't a young and pale blond woman to greet him like last time, but instead there was a tall, burly, bearded, and – judging from his stare – a stern old man. He stared down at Shirou, his head nearly reaching the top of the now seemingly small stall.

He was massive. Shirou definitely wouldn't be able to find someone like him wandering around Fuyuki, not without actively searching through public records.

 _Were they at the right stall?_

"Are you daft?" He blurted out with his eyes narrowed in irritation, "I asked you 'what do you want?'"

Shirou shook himself from his stupor to answer as he didn't want to anger the giant further. "Sorry sir, we seem to be at the wrong stall. Do you know which stall sells beginner equipment?"

The giant raised a brow, "You're looking right at it, boy,"

Shirou blinked once more and glanced at the stall. It was familiar, but with the giant at the helm, it wasn't as familiar as before.

"I see… what happened to the previous store clerk?" Shirou asked with concern.

"My daughter? She's busy stoking the forge, it's been a slow day for business." He informed, surprising the two of them somewhat.

It was then that they remembered that Melhia – the previous store clerk – had been minding it for her father. She said that he'd be back in a few days, which had passed already.

"You got anything else you want other than my daughter?" He asked with narrowed eyes, "I'll have you know that she isn't of marrying age yet–"

"I'm already nineteen winters, papa!" A voice shouted from behind him.

"You're old enough when I say you're old enough, young lady!" He shouted back with sudden fervor.

This allowed Shirou and Sakura a glance at the scene behind him. There was a forge there, where Melhia was pushing down a forge bellow, surprising force coming from her seemingly delicate stature.

"I'm a winter older than Cecily," Melhia shouted back, "–and she's married already!"

"You're not old enough! Not until you can forge a better blade than me!"

She stopped stoking the flames, "–but papa! That's impossible!"

"Then be quiet and stoke the forge! You're being rude to the customers!"

Neither Shirou nor Sakura wanted to test the giant on the irony of his statement.

"Now, where was I?" He muttered in musing, "Right, she's not of marrying age yet."

"I think you misunderstand my intentions, sir," Shirou started as politely as he could, "I already have a lover–" technically two, "–so I don't really wish to court your daughter."

The giant sent a not-so-subtle glance to Sakura, who had blushed at Shirou's statement. "Ah, sorry for being rude, young lady."

"I-It's fine," Sakura stuttered out.

"Well, if my daughter's hand was not what you wanted," the giant continued, "Then what did you want?

"I was looking for a way to become a blacksmith."

For some reason, Shirou found the giant's stare to be just a little bit harder. The man rose a brow at Shirou as he glanced at him as if he was analyzing him for something.

"You have good physique…" He commented, "… but why would you want to be a blacksmith?"

Shirou thought somewhat long as he answered, "I want to be able to make weapons for my guild. It's more cost-effective that way."

Upon the following silence, the giant narrowed his eyes at the response. "… Is that it, boy? No other reason?"

Considering the fact that Shirou could simply use his magecraft and recreate a far superior noble phantasm, he didn't really have any other reason. Shirou shook his head.

The giant sent another glance, "And the girl?"

"I'm just tagging along, sir." Sakura meekly uttered.

A puff of smoke exited the giant's nose, which surprised them somewhat, as he took a step back. "Okay… follow me inside, boy. I'll see if you have what it takes to become a blacksmith."

The two of them took a step inside the stall and took several more steps until they entered the building behind it. A separate zone, where the heat of the forge would not affect the people out front.

Instantly, sweltering heat from a burning forge blasted them. Sakura winced and took a step back, but Shirou held his ground at the heat. He was already familiar with the heat of flames.

Melhia paused from her job to gawk slightly at their entry, "Eh? Papa, why did you lead customers here?"

"Do you already know how to make a blade?" The giant asked as he ignored his daughter, sparing Shirou but a single glance.

Shirou nodded.

"Grab an apron from off the wall and make one." He ordered, despite the indignant pout that his daughter sent his way.

Shirou did not so much as sigh as he walked up to the lone extra apron and wore it. Sakura stepped away to the side where the heat wasn't as suffocating.

"You're free to use any of the tools in the shop if you need to." The giant said as Shirou just realized he had yet to learn his name, "Let's see what you're made of, boy. Go ahead and do that magic you adventurers like doing."

Shirou nodded but then widened his eyes at his last few words.

 _What magic? Weren't they forging a weapon?_

Before Shirou could ask the giant what he meant, his menu appeared within his vision. A brief glance told him all the information it held.

 _Would you like to use up '1x Iron Ingot' to forge a(n) 'Iron Dagger?'_

Was this menu… asking him to create an iron dagger right from the get-go? Shirou's mind flashed back to the memory of the bland auto-cooked travesty a few nights ago.

The food was tasteless, so what would that mean for the weapon? A weapon had no taste, so what else would be robbed from it–

Like thunder in a bright day, it struck him.

 _The weapon's history._

If he used that method, then the following created weapon would be robbed of the process of being created. It would be a sword that wouldn't know its origins, a dagger that didn't know the warmth of the forge, an axe that knew not of the essence of steel.

It would be a soulless weapon.

Shirou would never – _not even if he lived for a million years_ – ever bother creating a thing like that.

Shirou promptly dismissed the message with furious and – in his opinion – righteous vigor.

"Are you giving up already?" The giant asked him as he sent him a stern yet disappointed gaze, "I thought you said that you wanted to be a blacksmith? Just use that adventurer magic and be done with it."

"I'm not giving up," Shirou declared with surprising vigor, "I just… want to do things traditionally. I'm not taking the easy way out."

The giant's eyes widened ever so slightly but retained his stern gaze. No other words came out of him save for an odd glint in his eyes.

Shirou paid no heed to it as he grabbed a sturdy steel tong along with a fairly strong iron ingot, courtesy of his structural grasping.

The forging had begun.

* * *

Illya sighed from her seat among the rest of the small guild leaders.

She had arrived earlier than the rest within Crescent Moon's guild room – the amount of pink that she saw didn't bother her – which gave her the freedom to analyze each and every person that came through the door.

She was a first-rate magus. She was familiar with how these meetings worked, she would be fine. Therefore, she didn't feel the slightest bit of nervousness as she waited for the others.

Although, she did admit that she was stressed. The meeting was going to be very influential among the lower bracket of players even if it failed. There would be repercussions that she wasn't sure she'd be able to protect her guild from.

That thought both extremely annoyed and truly frightened her.

Crescent Moon's guild leader, Marielle – whose avatar had two literal melons hanging off of her body – had greeted her with a smile. She had brought a Wolf Fang guard along too, which was odd seeing as it was nigh-impossible to start a fight in a non-combat zone.

Illya was asked if she brought a guard along with her too, but all she said was a relay of her previous thoughts. She hadn't.

Besides, she sat near the corner seat, which gave her view of the windows, the door, and all other possible entryways. This way, she had the option of a hasty escape if the situation called for it.

She didn't know the Crescent Moon Alliance's guild leader very well – other than the fact that she knew a player or two in the guild – Marielle could very well turn the guild room into a combat zone and prevent the leaders from leaving, using superior numbers to ambush them from the shadows.

Although since the guild was pink, there wasn't really a spot where assailants could hide. Maybe she was just being over cautious? Actually this was Elder Tale, you could have Assassins in the color pink and no one would bat an eye. So it was plausible but highly unlikely.

Soon, other minor guild masters started filling the room. A generic human with kinda okay equipment, a swashbuckler wearing heavy armor for some reason, a kannagi that was actually using good equipment, a cosplaying samurai– basically a whole bunch of nerds.

Especially the heavy armored rogue, he probably joined the game to play for fun before the 'Apocalypse' happened – which Illya thought was a stupid name. The 'Transference' would be a more apt title.

Illya at least took solace in the fact that she didn't seem out of place, save for her lack of a bodyguard.

When Woodstock appeared, they exchanged greetings, but nothing more than that as the meeting had taken priority. Which started a minute after everyone had gathered and introduced themselves to each other.

She was sure that none of them really cared about the introductions. They all saw it as a formality and just brushed it off and gave away basic information that anyone could glean from their player indicators.

Illya did the same, if only to conceal information. If she could turn the meeting to her favor, then she'd need more information.

Luckily, she learned that the Crescent Moon's guild leader was a joyful and naive person so she would be easy to manipulate. The others weren't like her though. There was a player with a kid avatar who seemed extremely laid back so Illya kept an eye on him, his confidence had to mean something.

Although after the 'meeting' had progressed for several minutes, Illya quickly realized how much her information gathering on the other players was going to be useful.

 _None at all._

"But even if we try to oppose the bigger guilds–"

"That's why we're trying to think of a way." Woodstock interrupted. If this was a meeting with magi, blood would have already been shed. "For example, we could share the hunting grounds among ourselves."

"With all of our players…" The samurai interrupted, opening one eye in a way that Illya found cringe-worthy. "… Is it really possible to share it? We only have the level one to sixty areas to use. Most of us are higher in levels, which narrows it down to the level fifty to sixty area, Belthias Lake. There aren't enough mobs there to farm among all of us."

"Spawn rates are higher when players are gathered together," a hooded Werecat added, "If we're all together, then surely the spawn rates will increase so that there'll be enough for us all?"

"Nope, that's not going to work." The heavy armored rogue countered. "The game prevents the spawns from going any higher than a spawn every ten minutes. There's too much downtime, we'd be fighting for every monster that spawned."

"Then why don't you offer some better ideas?" The human with kinda okay equipment started, "If all you're going to do is deny every suggestion then just leave!"

Soon after that, the whole bastardization of a 'meeting' devolved into accusations and backtalk. No sensible progress had been made. The heavy armored rogue started slander, the laid-back man-kid started ignoring everything all together, and even the bodyguards at the back started being unnerved.

 _It was just… a sham of a meeting._

People made idiotic requests without giving incentive to others and small opinions made large arguments. It was just… so unprofessional that the magus within her wanted to cry out in disgust.

Friendships would be broken, Illya knew that. Luckily for her, she came into this meeting without any sort of risk for her guild.

She had the perfect claim to the lower level zones for her family, which means that even if the meeting failed – which it already had – she would walk away with information on all the guilds along with a mental guarantee that there would be no possible chance of harm for her family grinding early on.

It was hard to hide her smirk while going through this hack of a meeting.

"I'm done with this shit!"

"Screw you guys!"

"I knew this damn thing was pointless."

Players got out of their chairs and left in droves. No one remained, except for Marielle, Woodstock, a man named Ichimonjinosuke Akaneya – she wanted to cry at trying to remember that name – and herself.

In the end, the people who left were quitters without a clear idea of how they wanted everything to improve. Those three that remained were people that wanted to sincerely improve Akihabara's situation.

Illya supposed that the three of them earned a little praise… but only just a little.

"Well," Illya mused, "That ended… exactly how I thought it was going to end."

Ichimonjinosuke – Illya was just going to call him Ichimo because it was shorter and simpler – sent her a narrowed glare, "And what exactly do you mean by that?"

"This meeting was doomed to fail from the start," Illya pointed out, "There was no agenda for the meeting. We came to talk about a common problem and yet we deviated a total of five times."

She sighed, "At the rate the meeting was going, I'm surprised that it took this long for it to end."

Woodstock sighed as well and rubbed his forehead in subtle irritation, "Always terribly blunt aren't you? Illyasviel, this meeting needed to succeed. Now there will be a lot more reason for conflict to start between guilds during the hunting sessions."

"Not my problem," Illya blurted out, "I respect you Woodstock-san, but I only joined this meeting because you invited me." _and to gain information on guilds._

Ichimo sighed and followed in Woodstock's footsteps by rubbing his forehead, "Maybe we should try again tomorrow…?"

"I don't really think that would work, but you can try," Illya advised with the usual facade of the politeness of a magus.

"In other news… How's your guild, Illya?" Woodstock asked, concern littering his features, "Have they managed to acclimate to Elder Tale yet?"

Illya shrugged, "They seem to be doing fine so far. They hold up in battle pretty okay…" She started to trail off.

"But?"

"They're still low leveled, it'll take them a long while before they can even take on a dungeon– let alone a raid." Illya muttered in frustration, "This meeting helped me though, at least I can train them safely in lower leveled zones."

"You went into this meeting without intent to improve Akihabara, didn't you?" Ichimo accused.

Illya simply shrugged at him, "I guess you could say that, but even with my input the meeting still would have failed."

"That's not a nice thing to say, Illya-san," Marielle berated in a halfhearted manner, "There could have been a chance to improve the meeting!"

"I disagree, I don't even know how you can improve this town's situation," Illya said, "We lack the power to do anything about it, small guilds remember?"

"Power isn't everything," Woodstock argued, "With a common goal and a united mind, we can eventually reach a state of mutually agreeable peace."

"Unless you hold a gun over everyone's head, I don't see how you can do that." Illya blurted out.

It was like praying for world peace, albeit at a smaller scale. Illya already knew how fruitless that endeavor could be when there was no proper plan to go along with it.

Ichimo scoffed in irritation, "I suppose we can agree on one thing, as cynical as it sounds."

"… I wonder if Shiroe-kun has an idea…?"

Illya's eyes widened and faced Marielle who was slumped on a chair pouting. Did her ears deceive her? Yeah, that must be it.

"I suppose the Villain in Glasses would probably have an idea," Ichimo muttered, "It's too bad that he doesn't care about guilds in general."

No, she didn't mishear. How fortunate.

"Did that man get caught up in this world too?" Illya asked with some slight hope and intrigue.

His reputation among the player base was nigh-legendary. The absolute strategist of the legendary Debauchery Tea Party. In other words, the brain of the party.

Under his guidance, the party defeated every raid known to the Japanese server. It was an achievement that Illya could applaud, even if it was just in a game.

If there was anyone who could improve Akihabara, it would be him. Illya didn't want her family to come under any form of danger.

"Yes, he is," Marielle answered, "Although he's busy at the moment so until he comes back from Susukino, we won't be able to get his help."

Illya frowned.

There went that idea… No matter. It didn't really change a thing for Illya. She had held onto a bit of hope but it faded. She still had a sliver of it hidden away, ready to pop back up when the Villain in Glasses appears in town.

Oh well, all that means is that Illya had to step up her game.

For her guild.

* * *

Sakura sighed softly once she saw Shirou weld a rod of iron onto the ingot before he gently shoved it into the forge. The sheer heat of it was enough to redden the steel after just a few seconds.

They had been here for several minutes and Shirou was only starting his forging process. It took a while for the not-so-modern forge to start heating the blade.

He hefted the sweltering ingot onto an anvil and slammed a hammer down. He was going to draw the ingot out to a sword-like shape.

Sakura could tell that he was taking great care to do so, seeing as his mana had dropped a bit from using reinforcement. His muscles straining upon each hammer strike, rippling underneath his sweaty and loose shirt…

"He's a surprising one…"

Sakura snapped from her fantasy and turned her head gently to see Melhia staring at Shirou, an odd expression taking hold on her face.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"Well…" Melhia started, "We don't really get many adventurers here nowadays but from what we can see, you adventurers usually wave your hands about and instantly turn an ingot into a sword."

Sakura opened her eyes in slight alarm at the information, "Is that really true?"

Melhia nodded several times, "It's true! If you want proof then you can see some blacksmith adventurers down the street. They're not even using the forge, it's like it's just there for decoration!" She threw her hands up in mock surrender as she said it.

Sakura nodded in contemplation. Such a feat… she was instantly reminded of Shirou's magic, but there was a bigger and better comparison to be made.

Namely, the filth that they had nearly eaten on their first night in this world.

Sakura briefly thought about what a sword made using the same method would yield. She didn't really see the difference other than the loss of hard work it would take to create the weapon, which Sakura saw as something close to a good thing.

However, knowing her lover – someone who has been so infused into the heart and soul of the weaponry of heroes – he must have come to a conclusion that offended him greatly. The vigor in his reply to the blacksmith was enough to tell her that.

"Shirou… isn't really like all the others." Sakura concluded for the blacksmith's daughter.

"We could tell that the moment he chose to make something with his two hands." Melhia pointed out, "At least we can gauge his actual skills."

"You're much more… open than when we first met, Melhia-chan." Sakura pointed out.

She rubbed the hem of her apron, "Well… Having my father here gives me confidence so that might be why? I think?"

Sakura chuckled, "So would you say that you're a daddy's girl?"

Melhia blushed like a tulip when Sakura pointed it out. She didn't deny it instantly which made Sakura giggle in turn.

How nice it must be… having a father that cared and raised you since birth.

 _Her own father couldn't be called such…_

Sakura shook away those thoughts and focused on her lover, who was grunting in exertion each time he hit the tempered steel, drawing out the blade.

She could not help but giggle.

Shirou on the other hand simply carried on.

All Shirou had to do now was shape the metal into a blade, harden the metal through cooling, some final beveling, and followed by grinding the edges to sharpen the blade.

There was much to be done, but Emiya Shirou was no quitter. The other alternatives were either creating a soulless mess of blade or go home without the blacksmith subclass.

He wanted that subclass, not because of his inner relation to swords, but because of how practical it would be. He would not always have his beginner scimitars with him. He'd need a better weapon every time he leveled up or whenever he didn't have enough mana to create a projection.

Although, he was intrigued by the actions of his experience bar, which had increased by a centimeter or so every time he hammered the blade-in-progress.

Perhaps he could level up from creating weaponry? That would be an interesting idea.

Not something he should dwell on though. He had to finish creating the blade itself. He didn't want to make a mistake, doing so would be a disservice to it.

He had already drawn out the metal so there was no more issue with its length, the tang had also formed so there would be no issues with attaching a handle to it.

A scimitar could be made with this base but Shirou wanted to create a standard European blade to start his forging life off.

Shirou lifted and used the round back-end of the hammer to widen the metal, acting as a makeshift fuller. Of course, it left odd rivets, but Shirou hammered them away with precision, flattening the sides.

Whenever the metal would cool, Shirou would place it back into the forge to bring the temperature back up. The metal had to remain malleable for the forging, otherwise, he would be hitting steel fruitlessly.

Shirou repeated this. Every time the blade would cool, he would heat it again before resuming the rhythmic and methodical strokes.

He hefted the blade before him one more time as he eyed its shape and form. Shirou felt satisfied with it.

Once he removed the welded iron rod, Shirou turned and gently lowered the blade into a wide barrel to cool the metal using the sturdy steel tong. He made sure to hold the blade steady to prevent it from warping.

A bead of sweat fell past his brow as his exp bar rose steadily, once more confusing him greatly.

Once Shirou saw the smoke begin to fade a little, he raised the blade out of the barrel. He sighed in relief when he saw that the metal didn't warp. If it had, then he would need to bend the blade back into place before it hardened significantly.

He held the blade and checked it from every angle.

Shirou nodded to himself. All that was missing was the grinding. He left the forge and took a nearby seat next to a rotating wheel of emery. The forge had a few grinding wheels spread about, a few of them small for finer work like rapiers or farm tools and some large for things like cleavers and axes.

Bright sparks of light filled Shirou's vision, the final touches shredding excess metal which caused the blade to sharpen.

The grinding stone slowed down as Shirou hefted the blade up. The tang lacked a handle to accompany it so far. However, that can easily be added later with a sheath.

Although it wasn't really that necessary due to the existence of the adventurer's inventory system.

"You did good kid," the giant said from behind him which prompted Shirou to send him a gaze. "It's not perfect or complete yet, but you have talent. If you want to, you can work under me until you perfect your craft."

Shirou could only blink at the offer.

 _Was this the offer to obtain the subclass?_

If so, then there was no reason to hesitate. Shirou stood tall as he answered, "I'd be honored to."

His menu updated, the previously empty slot under his player indicator filled with a new line of text. His previously empty subclass box had filled out with the blacksmith text.

He now had a subclass. He greeted the information with a smile.

"Come here every day at dawn," the giant told him as he walked away, "Repetition is the best way to learn. If you want to complete the blade in your hands today then follow me."

Shirou rose his brow at the order but nodded, "I understand…"

The giant raised his brow and rubbed his beard in minor embarrassment, "I forgot to tell you my name…" He then stood tall and proud as he gazed at Shirou.

"My name is Meltraus, Grand Master Blacksmith of Akihabara! Starting today, you will be my apprentice!"

On Sakura's end, she could not help the smile growing on her face as Shirou followed Meltraus to a separate room to create a handle for the blade.

"… That just happened. I'm not hallucinating, right?" Melhia muttered, "Usually we'd send adventurers away after they make a sword…"

"This isn't the usual outcome?" Sakura muttered in worry, "Did Shirou do something that displeased him?"

Melhia shook her head, "On the contrary, Papa seems to have taken a liking to him. He hasn't had an apprentice in a long time but I didn't think that the next one would be an adventurer."

"… Is it because he didn't use the usual adventurer's method?" Sakura wondered out loud, which elicited both a nod and a shrug from Melhia.

"I hope your lover has enough willpower, papa isn't lenient on any mistakes."

Sakura giggled, "I think he'll be fine."

* * *

Illya sighed and stepped into the marketplace.

The meeting ended badly, she left only when Marielle told them that she needed to use the room to cheer up the rest of her guild. This left Illya to venture out to find the rest of her guild.

Truth be told, the after-meeting discussion she had with Ichimo, Woodstock, and Marielle was more informative than the actual meeting itself. Although, the numerous time Marielle tried to 'be friends' with her was enough to give her a head ache.

Illya would have understood if she was still in her child body, but she had boobs! She wasn't a kid anymore!

To soothe her soon-to-be migraine, Illya had taken a detour for once to take in the sights, but frowned when she noticed that the players had been sending each other glares and uneasy movements.

Surprisingly, Illya noticed that the NPC's had felt the animosity on the streets and backed away whenever adventurers approached.

Akihabara was turning into a hostile place. Were the safe zone's going to remain safe any longer? Perhaps she should properly consider how to prevent the unstable atmosphere of Akihabara, for her guild's sake.

For now, she would need to pick up her guild members. From her mini-map, she could tell that Rin was still in the Arcadia for some reason, which was convenient because it was closer to her current location.

"Rin! Come on we're leaving!" Illya called out as she took a step into the Arcadia.

"Shut up midget! I'm busy!"

"I concur, we still have much to work on."

Illya took a moment to blink and gaze forward, where Rin had returned her focus to a paper. A book off to her side with Rin's finger placed on it but her gaze flickered between the open book and a paper she was writing on with a feathered quill.

On the opposite side of her, the NPC store clerk was doing the same, yet she was sending glances to Rin's paper instead while writing down on her own.

"Are you certain that using this method increases overall spell efficiency?" The NPC asked, "I am quite certain that this unorthodox method is dangerous."

"Magic is dangerous, Ferlna," Rin rebuked as she gave Illya the NPC's name, "All we're doing is trying to find a way to harness that power and improve upon it. Using this method, we should be able to do just that."

"But would this not take a much longer period of spellcasting before the spell is performed?" She argued, "That can be dangerous to both adventurer and Lander mages in combat. Speed is arguably better than power."

"That's true but we can improve upon that later. Right now, the 'spellcasting' process is far too linear. There are so many segments of spell casting that magi are glossing over that the spell is weaker than it should be." Rin supplemented, "Once we get the formula and process ironed out, we can work on streamlining it for wide-spread use among other magi."

"I believe I told you that we are mages, not magi."

"Magi, mages, all the same to me. What matters is that we focus on improving this system. Stagnation might as well be the same as death."

The NPC grimaced but nodded determined, "I cannot argue you on that, Magi Tohsaka."

Rin stopped in her writing and sent the NPC a small glare, "I thought I told you to just call me Tohsaka…?"

"I thought I told you that we're mages, not magi."

Rin snorted and continued writing on the paper, ignorant of the fact that Illya was standing right beside her.

"Rin… what are you doing?" Illya asked with admittedly some trepidation.

"What does it look like, midget? I'm writing down how to improve this world's root-forsaken method of magic." Rin answered, "I'll be back at the guild later. I'm finishing this segment, today."

Illya nodded and walked out of the Arcadia, only now noticing the sign that says 'closed' on it.

 _Well… that was a thing._

Ignoring Rin's magus tirade would be best for her growing migraine. Instead, Illya chose to focus on Shirou and Sakura's whereabouts. Lucky for her, it was at the stall that sold them Shirou's equipment.

Hopefully, some form of normalcy awaited her there.

Illya didn't have to walk long until she came across the stall… with Sakura standing outside talking happily with the NPC, Shirou not in sight.

"So the rest of the people held a party to celebrate the founding of Akihabara, right?" The NPC started, "But we all forgot to bring food so instead of actually partying, we had to spend the entire time hunting for some food! We had adventurers help us too – back when they were still agreeable…"

Illya remembered that event, it was the first one that she participated in. She had to kill boars and exchange their meat for event points, which she could use to spend on items and other cosmetics.

She could have also harvested some vegetables at the nearby farmlands, but that was boring so she didn't do it.

In the end, she got an amulet which boosted overall health absorption from that, which was a great investment. It saved her multiple times in a few raids.

Illya shook away the memory and walked up to Sakura, which the NPC noticed and clammed up into silence and nervousness. Sakura looked concerned and sent a glance Illya's direction.

She smiled softly upon seeing her, "Illya-chan! How did the meeting go?"

Illya sent Sakura a smug eye-roll and shrugged, "It went exactly as expected, a disaster…" Illya fell short and sent a look to the NPC, "By the way, where's Shirou?"

"He's inside working with Meltraus-san," Sakura answered, "He managed to get the blacksmith subclass so he's improving it by working under him."

The name didn't really strike any familiarity within her. It was probably some NPC that she didn't know about yet. She'd ask Sakura for clarification later.

"I assume he'll be done later?" Illya replayed the same thing Rin told her.

"No, he's nearly done. In a few minutes we should be able to leave so why don't you check on Rin?"

Illya made an odd face, unsure whether to be confused or astounded, as she answered, "Rin is busy writing a paper with the NPC, I believe her name was Ferlna?"

Sakura nodded with minor understanding, "I don't know who that is…" Her eyes lightened up and faced the NPC, Melhia if Illya remembered, "Melhia-chan, do you know who Ferlna is?"

Melhia smiled at Sakura but sent a nervous glance to Illya as she answered, "I only know her by reputation. She's from the capital of Eastal and she mostly keeps to herself, but I don't know what she's like as a person."

Sakura frowned and pouted, "It's okay if you don't know. Thank you, Melhia-chan!"

Melhia sent her a thankful and pleasant gaze as she continued her small talk with Sakura.

Okay… Illya was missing a lot of things, it would seem.

From behind the NPC, a familiar silhouette appeared. Shirou stepped out of the stall with a giant old man. He seemed vaguely familiar, but it was escaping her.

Illya had to restrain the urge to leap at her brother for a hug. Her migraine was starting to become slightly unbearable. However, Illya was a patient guild master. She could wait until they were done talking.

"Remember to be back here at dawn. I don't like waiting."

"I understand, Meltraus-san." Shirou reciprocated and left, a new blade held in his hands.

That must have been the sword that Shirou made to become a blacksmith. Illya did note that it looked somewhat different when compared to a regular iron sword but shrugged it off for now.

"Come on you two, we need to head back to the guild." Illya commanded, which she felt extremely happy about doing, "There's a lot to discuss. Particularly about the 'meeting' and what we're doing moving forward."

Shirou and Sakura nodded as they bid their farewells to the two NPC's and walked away.

Illya's sanity was probably not going to like the events that transpired today, especially in Rin's case.

Oh wait, sanity already left her the moment she woke up in a game world.

That would probably explain why she left her restraint and leaped on her dear brother's back for a hug.

* * *

Illya groaned from her bedside. Shirou sat on his own bed and held his new sword with an odd expression on his face.

Sakura sat on her own bed as well and was avidly reporting her day to her sister, who didn't really listen to her as she was busy reading a history book. Illya wasn't sure if it was purchased at all.

When they returned to the guild room, Illya had everyone relay what they did during the day.

Illya learned that Shirou had been with the old NPC, who was named Meltraus – but she didn't really care – and had apparently spent the day forging a blade, going through techniques taught by the NPC.

Yes, taught. Illya had to make sure she heard it correctly.

Instead of the usual smithing that a player does – which was creating a weapon using an ingot and a few bits of leather through the crafting menu – her brother opted to forge the thing from scratch.

Illya knew that there were implications there, but she didn't want to tackle that today. Maybe in a few days, when her mental fortitude could stop a tidal wave.

Sakura, thankfully, didn't do something insanely absurd and spent the day relaxing and chatting with her new NPC friend, who was the store clerk from before.

She didn't manage to get a subclass which was unfortunate but they still had other days. It was best to not rush into one only to regret it later. Restarting the subclass progress bar from scratch was a painful idea, even if starting early with a subclass would go a long way in helping it level up.

Rin, on the complete opposite spectrum of her sister, had spent the day not relaxing and chatting, but researching magic and the like with the Arcadia's store clerk.

Yes… research, which the twin-tailed magus still wasn't done with. She would head back to the Arcadia again to continue with the NPC, Ferlna.

Illya didn't even want to think of the implications such a thing would entail, but nevertheless, she shook away the mental fatigue and focused on the matters at hand.

She did find it a little worrying how she just moved on and accepted her family's shenanigans.

"Okay everyone," Illya started from her seat above everyone, which was just a chair stacked on top of the wooden center table, "We have a lot to go over but we can do it quickly and sleep."

"Let me guess," Rin muttered as she flipped through her book's pages, "The meeting went bad?"

Illya shrugged and nodded, "I went to the meeting… Let's just say that it didn't end well."

Shirou winced, "Was it really that bad?"

Illya nodded fervently, "The meeting progressed okay for the first few minutes but after that? It fell apart like Rin with technology,"

"I'm right here you know?"

"So it was that bad…" Sakura muttered in increasing worry.

"You guys better not be ignoring me."

"At least there was a bit of information that I got," Illya continued, which visibly made Rin release a gut-wrenching grunt, "The guilds are now somewhat hostile to each other – It'd take a miracle to remove the animosity the meeting caused – which means that if we go anywhere near someone from a different guild, they'll be immediately hostile."

Shirou grimaced, "Is there any way we can avoid clashing with the other guilds? It'd be hard to gain levels when there will be players with grudges." Unjustified grudges in his opinion.

Illya waved him off with a smile, "That won't be a problem for a while though. All we have to do is stick to the lower level zones, the majority of the small guilds will want to take the highest available zone. The starter forest and the two zones above that aren't in their priority list."

"So, does that mean we have a date for the next monster hunting day?" Rin asked after her irritation faded, "I'd like for it to be somewhat soon. I need access to the higher elemental spells."

Illya sent a small glare her way, "Why? So you can 'improve' them again?"

"Yeah, what else should I do with them?"

 _This magus…_

Illya sighed and shook her head, "We can do that in the afternoon tomorrow. Sakura still lacks a subclass so she needs to go searching for one alone, the earlier the better."

"Alone? Isn't that a bit dangerous?" Shirou added with worry.

"As long as she sticks to the safe zone? No there's not much danger, plus I trust Sakura to not go looking for trouble." Illya defended while she spared Sakura a reassuring glance, "Rin's undoubtedly going to be too busy to accompany her and you need to help me train in axemanship? That's the word for it, right?"

Shirou blinked, "Why would you want to do that? I thought you were fine with the skills that your body has?"

Illya frowned, "The same reason as you, I don't want to be overly reliant on this body. What if my body doesn't let me use an attack that I know I can perform or something? There are variables that I don't like putting up to chance, especially with this body! That's why Onii-chan, tomorrow you'll be helping me train when we wake up."

It was a great plan in Illya's opinion. While Rin and Sakura were busy, she'd get some 'alone' time with her dear, dear brother!

He won't be able to resist her body's new 'feminine' wiles!

"While I think it's great you're planning contingencies," Shirou started, interrupting her mental cheer, "However, I have an appointment with Meltraus-san. I need to be at the forge every morning from dawn to dusk until my smithing reaches an acceptable level in his eyes."

Illya swore she heard glass shattering but wasn't sure where it came from. Oh wait, never mind. It was her cheer that died.

"Why."

"Meltraus-san mentioned that he needed to be at the forge, something about an apprenticeship?" Sakura added, "Melhia-chan said that it wasn't something that her father did before if that helps."

Illya shook her head at Sakura, "No, it really doesn't, wait– what do you mean by apprenticeship!?"

Shirou rose a brow, "Is there something odd about that? Most blacksmiths of the middle ages take on–"

"This world was a game world! The class is usually given to you instantly! Why in the world would being an apprentice help you at all!?" Illya ranted, "Don't you already have the blacksmith class? Can't you just ignore it and start up your own forge?!"

Shirou's eyes hardened.

"I can't do that, Illya."

She huffed, "And why not?"

"I want to know the in and outs of smithing from a master. I can only learn so much from observing the history of swords," Shirou answered, "Also, I promised him that I'd be his apprentice. If I don't go tomorrow then I'd be going back on my word."

Illya grit her teeth in frustration. Shirou had already given up his dream for Sakura, why can't he give up one stupid promise for her?! It wasn't fair!

"Can't you reschedule at all?" Illya tried one last time.

"It's already set in stone, Illya," Rin berated for once using her actual name instead of the usual, "You're the one being unreasonable right now. Just set the date for your training to some other time when he's free."

"Fine," Illya agreed with a frustrated sigh, "Check with the old geezer for free days, Shirou. I'll be lenient on you for today!"

Shirou sighed with a smile, "Okay, okay, Illya. I'll do that."

"Isn't it great, Illya-chan?" Sakura chimed in with a smile as she stood from her bed to give Illya a comfortable hug.

Illya still pouted despite the fact she was leaning into her.

 _Curse those mammaries!_

"That's great," Rin muttered once again, having lost interest in the current situation. "We're all going to be busy tomorrow then? I'll be at the Arcadia, Sakura at who-knows-where, and Shirou at the forge." She paused in her reading and sent Illya a glance. "Actually, you're the only one with nothing to do tomorrow."

Illya grimaced at that but her frown disappeared once an idea came to mind.

"So I have the whole day to myself…" Illya muttered as she wormed her way out of Sakura's suffocating hug, "Then, is it okay if I head out of town for a while?"

Alarm bells immediately started ringing among the guild members who sent her a look of disbelief.

"Wait, what did you say midget?" Rin asked in confusion.

"Illya, that sounds like a reckless idea." Shirou berated.

"Rather, it sounds dangerous…" Sakura muttered.

Illya snorted and held her hands up in surrender, "Okay, okay– I'll explain myself! Remember what Onii-chan said about my axe right? About how there's an armor set for the rest of it?"

They nodded but Shirou widened his eyes in realization, "You aren't planning to–"

"Not now Onii-chan!" Illya interrupted, "When I'm a higher level then sure, but for now it'll just be a little bit of reconnaissance on the quest. I want to know if the quest NPC is still there."

Shirou still looked unsure, as did the rest of her guild, but they relented with a frown. "Can you at least get someone to go with you? Maybe a friend or another player you can trust." Shirou pleaded.

Illya frowned and browsed her memory. There was Woodstock who might agree, but he'd be too busy with trying to 'save' Akihabara. Ichimo was a no-go and she barely even knew the other guild masters.

She scrolled her friend list to see who else was online and pouted as she admitted not being able to find anyone–

Oh wait, never mind.

There was one person.

"I'll bring along a level eighty player so you don't have to worry about me, okay?" Illya reported with confidence despite the still skeptical gazes she received.

"Can you trust him?" Shirou asked once more, "Can you absolutely trust this player?"

Illya went through the memories she had of the game, specifically thinking about that specific player, and ultimately nodded.

Despite the quirks of the level eighty player in mind, Illya trusted him for a lot of things. His guild would probably miss him, but considering the type of person he was, he'd want to journey with her for just a little bit.

Besides, the guy still owed her a favor from when she traded an Artifact-class staff to him but got nothing in return.

As the rest of the guild went to sleep, Illya opened up her menu and sent the message to the person in question.

' _I scratch your back, you scratch mine. I'm calling in my favor, Eisel.'_

All that was left was to wait and see.

* * *

 **A/N: Sincere apologies for the delay. College life has been a struggle to find free time after the assignments start being handed out. You have to thank Worldbringer of Joseun for being patient with me through the beta-process of the story. He pointed out many errors I made during my fatigued state. Honestly, I'm astounded he manages to find things wrong after I check over it. Maybe it's because my mind already remembers how the story should flow and just ignores the errors?**

 **We're still not sure that we got all the errors so if you spot any of them, just post a review about them and I'll try to get them fixed as soon as possible.**

 **Kappa.**

 **A/N 2: Edited a mistake on the item ranking system that Elder Tale uses (Totally not a Retcon btw). Don't worry, the next chapter will come out before the end of the month.**


	5. Chapter 5: Progress

**Chapter 5  
**

 **Beta: Worldbringer of Joesun**

* * *

Illya didn't really try too hard to suppress an incoming yawn.

It was the start of a new day, which also marked the fifth day that all of the Emiya Family had spent within the world of Elder Tale.

Honestly, it was quite a surreal experience. She was a first-rate magus but even she was overwhelmed at the thought of being transported into a game, at least when she first arrived here.

The Emiya Family had gotten used to living in the city of Akihabara quite quickly, with her brother already having a job. Rin was off playing hooky– researching how magic worked in this world, which was a worthy idea considering what the twin-tailed magus accomplished.

 _Seriously, creating your own spell variants at level one was absurd._

They had all gotten schedules as to what to do today, which ruined Illya's plans but there wasn't anything she could do about it. It led to a situation that she had to pull out something from her rear, which was to look into what other secrets her beloved axe held.

Unfortunately, Illya had been waiting for quite a long time… She should have gone shopping for an hour before making her way here.

Not that she was underprepared, but it was a good idea to stock up when the rest of the players are asleep.

 _What a bunch of lazy gamers._

"Excuse me, have you seen a large two-ton guardian around here?"

Illya's Wolf Fang ears twitched at the recognizable voice, it was one that she heard during her early days of the game. She turned to face the person behind her, a blue-haired Half-Alv Sorcerer who wore standard Magical blue robes.

Eisel, the resident miner of the Crescent Moon Alliance, and before that he was someone that would help out new players to acclimate to the game. He was generally a nice guy…

… The very same person was trying to talk to a slumped adventurer. That same adventurer looked like he wanted nothing to do with him and tried scooting away discreetly. At least Eisel seemed confident in asking, but why would he ask about the whereabouts of some guardian the size of a giant–

 _Oh, wait._

"Eisel!" Illya called, "Get over here!"

Eisel stopped trying to ask the adventurer, which he used as an opportunity to sneak away, and turned to faced Illya. "Yes, how may I help you?"

Illya chose to suppress a sigh.

"It's me, Eisel. Look at my name tag."

It took a few seconds before Eisel's eyes widened. A blink later and he ran up to her with speed uncommon for a sorcerer.

"Illyasviel!? You're a girl!?" He screamed in surprise. He took a few moments to scan the albino teenage beauty before him, "No wonder you never used voice chat…"

Illya chose to let him believe that, but in reality, the voice chat function would have awoken Shirou in a heartbeat.

"Yes yes, are you ready?" Illya commented. She sent a short side-glance at the sky, seeing the sun only just barely rising, "If you're not ready, then hurry up. I'd like to leave before sunrise."

"I… I'm ready," He muttered, "Sorry, I'm just surprised. I always thought you were a man."

Illya suppressed a sigh once more. "Did the name _'Illyasviel'_ not clue you in?"

"Well I heard Illya was a name for men in Russia," He started, "–and then I thought that Illyasviel was just the long way of saying it. Not to mention the fact that there are no girls on the internet…"

Illya's eye twitched as she sent him a minor glare. "Isn't your guild master a girl?"

Eisel scoffed and looked away in mild annoyance. "Marielle-sama used voice chat as proof whereas you didn't at the time. I rest my case."

This time, Illya didn't suppress a sigh.

"Anyways, you arrived early," Illya said in an attempt to derail from _that_ topic. Otherwise, Eisel would've been a nuisance for several minutes. "From what I remember, aren't you always late to raids?"

"That was when I still had a job." He answered with a nervous smile, already distracted. "It's kind of a blessing to not have to rush home to get on raids anymore."

"Don't let the other players hear you say that," Illya chastised. They were still despairing like idiots, making them bitter would drag unwanted attention.

"It's fine," He replied, "I got permission from my guild master, she says that I can go with you as long as we come back before night comes…" He fell silent for a few seconds, "… we are coming back before nightfall, right?"

"The journey will take a day or two on horseback, not including the possible encounters or delays along the way," Illya replied as she didn't notice the sorcerer's widening eyes, "So in actuality, it'll be a couple of days, close to four or five. That won't be an issue, will it?"

Eisel winced and made hand motions, which Illya guessed he used to open up his menu in order to send a message.

Within half a minute, he sighed in relief.

"Okay, Marielle-sama agreed to let me go with you," He said, "Apparently we don't have much to do. As long as I bring a souvenir back, she'll let me come with you."

Illya shrugged, "That's fine with me, let's go. We're burning daylight!"

Eisel sighed and lightly jogged to catch up with her. After a few minutes of walking, the tall gates of Akihabara were long behind them.

"So, why did you want to visit this NPC again?" Eisel asked, "There's got to be a reason, right?"

Illya expression did not change, "Classified."

Eisel nearly stumbled in his steps, "… Really?"

"I called in your favor," Illya started, "I don't really have to explain anything to you, right? Honestly, if my guild wasn't going to worry over me then I wouldn't have brought you along."

"T-That's a little mean don't you think, Illyasviel?" He muttered, "Then again, you were always this blunt…"

"And you always paid back favors," Illya finished up, "Do you have a mount? It'll be a quicker ride to the fountain. Who knows what that NPC ghost will be doing over there."

"The fountain…? Oh, that fountain." Eisel sighed and fished out a horse whistle, "I'm not sure that the staff was worth this hassle…"

"So my Artifact-class staff wasn't worth it?" Illya said mildly offended, "That's kind of conceited of you, don't you think?"

She pouted as she blew her horse whistle, Eisel did the same.

Elder Tale used a somewhat unique set of rankings for their items. There was the standard normal item like a longsword, then there was the Magical-class item which basically just added an element or effect to it like a Fire Longsword.

Then there were the Production-class items which were things created by players, mostly those with production subclasses like tailors, blacksmiths, alchemists, and the like. Things like weaponry and armor, or even consumable items like bombs. Anything made by players fell under the category.

Then there was her gift, an Artifact-class item. They were rare and obtained randomly from quests, dungeons, or as monster drops. She got the 'Staff of Continuous Casting' – which increased the duration time of cast spells – as a side drop while hoping for her Golden Rhapsody.

Finally, there was the Phantasm-class item– but that's a whole other story.

"... Okay, I can't deny that the staff has done wonders for me," Eisel commented, "If I was home more often to use the staff for farming, then I'd be level ninety already."

"Then why didn't you? Sounds like a good idea." Illya asked as their horses appeared in the distance.

"I had a job, remember?" Eisel answered with a small chuckle, "Not to mention I had to manage the guild while Henrietta was off trying to get Marielle-sama to log-in…"

Illya nodded as she got on her horse, "I guess I can see why."

"... I was also making dresses for my sister, but that's not the main reason at all!" Eisel defended, "Look, let's just leave before night comes… I don't want to be out there when night falls. Player Killers are active at night."

Illya nodded, but she had also sighed at the incredulity.

She had forgotten… This Sorcerer with the miner subclass was a hardcore sewing otaku in real life. It was a wonder that he didn't switch subclasses already.

Great, now her headache was coming back.

"Fine, let's just go…" She muttered as her leg kicked back, prompting the horse to begin its gallop.

Compared to her guild, the fact that Eisel was a sewing otaku was pretty much underwhelming.

Illya could only hope that her guild didn't do anything too out-of-place while she was gone. However, knowing them?

It was a misplaced hope.

* * *

Sakura sighed as she wandered the somewhat populated streets of Akihabara.

She had quite enough of seeing other players shuffling around like the dead. They despaired at their current situations but at least it's better than being dumped into a pit with worms molesting–

Sakura shook away those thoughts.

As much as she didn't want to admit it, she was still bitter about the ordeal that took up the majority of her childhood and early teens. It wasn't an experience that was easy to forget. On the contrary, it was horrifyingly memorable.

She was a monster…

… However, even back then, she was a monster that everyone tried to save, in spite of the fact that she could have killed everyone.

"Hey, you're a new player right?"

Should Sakura be mad or glad at the rest of the guild's decision? Maybe a walk down to Melhia-chan could cheer up her mood, she was a nice girl.

"Hey, we're talking to you!"

Sakura had to blink once she noticed that someone had been trying to talk to her. She momentarily flushed in embarrassment, her own thoughts had been very distracting.

"I'm sorry, what can I do for you?" Sakura greeted cordially.

The players before her had levels from sixty to eighty, within Illya's range which might mean they were either stronger or weaker than her. They also wore some slightly shady clothing, maroon paired with flecks of gray or other darker shades of brown.

One of them, holding himself up like a salesman took a step closer. The way his goggles covered his eyes paired with his oozing smile did not give Sakura a good first impression. "It's not what you can do for us, but what we can do for you!"

Sakura could not help the tilt of her head, "Pardon?"

"You seem low level, which I'm sure you know is dangerous for people here, right?" He started, to which Sakura nodded, "We offer you to join our guild so that we'll be able to help you level up to a safer level!"

Sakura had to blink in minor wariness.

If being in the Holy Grail War taught her anything, it was to not trust those who seem shady like her grandfather. Granted, he had been an amalgamation of hideous worms, but the point still stood.

"I'm sorry but I'll have to decline," Sakura said, "I'm already in a guild that I'm comfortable with. We already have sessions dedicated to leveling up so joining your… guild... is unnecessary."

The actual reason is that she didn't trust this shady bunch.

"Surely there must be some way we can change your mind?" The person said, "You mentioned that you have other guildmates that you're leveling up with? I assume that they're low leveled as well, so my offer extends to them too, if you and your fellow guild members would like!"

Sakura was suspicious at first, but she was even more so now. Pushing for something like this was just completely out of the norm. What was their actual goal?

In any case, she had to get away from these people.

"I'm sorry but I still refuse." She retorted. However, there was no mistaking the caution in her tone.

The players before her shrugged as the delegated spokesperson chose to talk again.

"What about if we–"

"I believe the young lady said no, you guys."

Sakura turned around as her eyes were drawn to a player behind her.

She wasn't familiar with him at all. She didn't recognize the red samurai armor, the blue haori, the scruffy ponytail on him, nor the childish face with a barely concealed smile on it.

"I don't believe this concerns you…?" The spokesperson warned, "Why don't you turn around and leave. We were having a nice conversation with this young lady."

"It becomes my concern when you're pushing your will on someone who clearly doesn't wish to be here with you."

The spokesperson made to speak again, but a new voice cut through.

"Why don't you listen to our little Soujiro here and leave?" The speaker said as she appeared from behind the samurai, whose name was apparently Soujiro, and draped her arm over his shoulder. "We're not like the other larger combat guilds, we protect other players if they're being harassed… kinda like what you're doing here."

She had purple hair much like Sakura's own. She even shared the Foxtail racial traits. If she didn't have a narrower face and a mischievous demeanor, Sakura would have thought that this woman was her doppelganger.

One of the other members of the spokesperson's party moved forward towards them but a single hand from the goggled salesman stopped him.

"We'll leave." He surrendered, "Although, using your authority as one of the bigger combat guilds like this, what will everyone else think?"

The purple Foxtail snorted, "Nothing at all, because those heaps are busy drinking water in bars, wishing it was alcohol."

Sakura winced at the depressing thought. Although, she was glad to see these people walk away, leaving Sakura alone with the fellow Foxtail and this Soujiro person.

"Sorry for butting in, but you seemed like you needed help?" Soujiro asked in a somewhat nervous manner, "I don't like it when people try to force their opinions on others. I'm Soujiro, what's your name?"

Sakura regarded him for a few seconds. However, she knew that she shouldn't take too long to respond. They helped her out, so the least she could do was be respectful.

"My name is Sakura," She then bowed respectfully, "I wasn't sure what they wanted so your help was appreciated."

"I'm Nazuna~" The Foxtail drawled when he tried to reply, "–and don't worry about it, it's fine. We didn't want someone that looks as cute as you to join that guild of brutes."

Soujiro chuckled a bit, "Hamelin doesn't exactly have the best reputation, even from before the Apocalypse."

 _Hamelin?_

That must have been the name of the guild that she was being pressured to join. Although she still didn't know what 'The Apocalypse' meant but nodded anyway.

"Well, thank you again, but I'll have to leave now." Sakura bid with a respectful bow before leaving again.

"Hey, do you need an escort to go anywhere?" Nazuna asked, "A cute girl like you will get mobbed by hopeless dudes here," The next words came out bitter "… especially since they aren't bound by moral laws anymore…"

There was a story there but Sakura didn't want to pursue it. She had her own fair share of immorality during the Holy Grail War.

"I believe I'll be fine on my own."

"Can we at least accompany you somewhere?" Soujiro asked with a reassuring smile, "It's the least we should do."

It doesn't look like they were going to leave her alone anytime soon. Sakura let out a wry smile and nodded, "I suppose I can't turn away goodwill, but I didn't really have a destination in mind."

Soujiro blinked, "So wait, you don't know where you're going?"

Might as well be truthful to them, she didn't see the purpose in concealing information here at all, unless it was sensitive. "I'm supposed to be searching for a subclass but I don't know which one I'd like."

Nazuna chuckled, "You're in luck. I know every inch of this city, which means I know which subclasses you can find in Akihabara. Any preferences?"

Sakura was still hesitant to trust the two veteran players.

They did help her out, but she hadn't been with them long enough to gauge their intent. Her initial hesitation was prompting her to walk away, but instead, she decided to take a leap of faith. "Then, I'll be in your care now, Nazuna-san."

In the end, she wasn't really trusting these two. In Illya's own words, she was just using them for now. Sakura would probably never meet them again after today.

"Just call me Nazuna," The fellow Foxtail waved, "There's no reason to use honorifics in this city at all."

"Then could you do the same with me and drop the honorifics?" Soujiro asked, "It's not really to my taste."

Sakura nodded with a smile, "I understand, Nazuna, Soujiro!"

Looks like she made friends now – who could help her accomplish her goal of finding a subclass – but as she walked with them, Sakura wondered how everyone else was doing.

Knowing her family… they were probably fine. As long as they didn't stand out that is.

* * *

Shirou stepped into the forge and instantly caught sight of Meltraus and Melhia stoking the forge as hard as they could.

"You're early, boy?" Meltraus muttered, "That's good, the early Wyvern gets the bird."

The idiom was lost on Shirou but he at least had a vague idea on its meaning.

"Do you need any help with the forge?" Shirou asked.

"No, we were just finishing up."

Shirou raised a brow as both Melhia and Meltraus stepped away from the forge. The heat wasn't as hot as yesterday so Shirou's confusion was warranted.

Meltraus reached into his pocket, "Look closely boy."

Shirou focused on what he took out of his pocket, which seemed to be a red stone– which was mined around the outskirts of Akihabara and transported to the city no less than a day ago.

Meltraus tossed the stone into the forge–

Instantly the familiar heat of the forge expanded from it. Shirou could feel the sweat attempting to form on his brow.

 _It was a fresh flame stone._

"That was a flame stone," Meltraus explained, which Shirou already knew, "We use it to keep our forges blazing throughout the day. Fresh ones keep the forge on fire for at least a day, any less and it'll be half that."

"... Can it be used in place of ingots?" Shirou asked.

"You mean can we make a sword out of a flame stone?" He snorted with a chuckle, "That'll be the day… Unfortunately, we can't. However, those enchanters can use it to give flaming properties to weaponry or armor. Making a sword from it just isn't possible."

Shirou filed that information for a later date, "So… what are we doing today, sir?"

"You'll be coming with me to the local blacksmith guild," Meltraus answered, "Since you're my apprentice, I'll need you to show your face so I can register you."

"... But papa, isn't that only allowed for Landers?" Melhia whispered hastily.

The giant merely huffed in annoyance, "There's no rule for that, I checked myself. No adventurer has joined the guild because none of them bother going under an apprenticeship after making a flimsy dagger, lazy bunch."

From Illya's reaction last night, Shirou was sure that the rest of the players, or rather adventurers, had no idea about the apprenticeship thing, or even if it existed in the game.

"I understand," Shirou nodded, "When are we leaving?"

"Now." Shirou stepped out of the way as Meltraus strode forward, "Follow me, we'll be done with this soon."

"Have a safe trip!" Melhia waved as she grabbed a pair of tongs, already going to work and forging something.

It took a few minutes but Shirou was led deeper into the market district. He was drawing curious stares from both Landers and players alike. Both of which were most likely confused as to why a Lander and an Adventurer were walking alongside each other.

Shirou decided to break the silence between them, "Are there any rules I have to be aware of?"

"Just keep your head down and try not to get in anyone's way."

Shirou nodded as his attempt at a conversation was rebuffed. He had a feeling that the giant didn't like talking when there's no business involved. He was definitely a man that went straight to the point.

"We're here."

Shirou looked up to the building before them.

It looked a lot like the church, but there was a distinct lack of a moat surrounding it. The usual overgrowth wasn't present, though Shirou could give a guess as to why that is.

As Shirou followed Meltraus and stepped into the zone, the heat blasted him.

The sight of countless forges lined up along the wall with smiths spread all across the center talking to each other, inspecting each other's blades, or simply standing around and looking at wares.

There were even a few gears embedded into the walls as lava flowed through and rotated them. How in the world was lava flowing from there?

Shirou didn't know, but at least the molten rock wasn't giving off an intense feeling of overbearing heat. Perhaps there were runes in place to limit the heat?

In any case, there was no way that plants could grow in this inferno.

"Up ahead, the table counter."

Shirou dragged his eyes away from the sights and focused ahead where a line of short people sat on elevated seats. They sent out a hard gaze towards the peanut gallery of fellow blacksmiths. A few of their individual tables even had a few bottles of mead off to their side.

Illya had already shown them what race they were from when they had made their characters. They were Dwarves.

In mythology, they were stout warriors with the strength and power that rivaled ten men, although they used that strength to forge the best weaponry.

They were also popularly known to like alcoholic drinks.

 _How fitting._

"Meltraus…? Grand Master Meltraus?" The dwarf in the center muttered in surprise, his head not needing to gaze far upward due to his elevated seat. "This is certainly a surprise…. a welcome surprise though! Since you don't usually make visits, you here for something or what?"

"I'm signing up my apprentice for the guild," Meltraus answered, "He shows talent and promise. It would be wasteful to not train the boy."

The dwarf looked around, "I don't see an 'apprentice' anywhere here. Did you leave him at your forge? You know the rules, we need to see his face for verification first."

Meltraus scoffed and simply pointed back at Shirou with his thumb.

"He's right here."

Somehow, Shirou knew that the gaze of disbelief he was being sent was not just from the dwarf they were talking to, but from the whole row of dwarves at the counter… and also the surrounding blacksmiths.

The sound of the nearby forges had faded, the talk between the dwarves and fellow smiths ceased, even the people making transactions stopped in their tracks to gawk their way.

Shirou frowned but remained stalwart against the confused stares.

 _Was being an Adventurer really that odd?_

"Meltraus… you're pulling my stout leg, right?" The dwarf muttered as he sent another wary glance at Shirou. "This is a big joke, right?"

"I'm not one for jokes, Kazhak," Meltraus bluntly stated, "I saw potential in him and will be taking him under my wing."

"–But he's an adventurer!" He shouted in indignation, "Those lousy bunch could barely forge a damn dagger without using their fancy schmancy magics!"

"The boy didn't use that pathetic method. He forged a fine sword in front of my bare naked eyes." Meltraus defended, "You will list him as my apprentice, as the Grand Master there will not be any further discussions."

Kazhak grit his teeth silently and nodded, "May we at least see his piece? It's necessary so we can evaluate his ability."

With a prompt from Meltraus, Shirou stepped up and with a flash of light, he dragged the sword out of his inventory.

The dwarf grabbed it by leaning forward and drew the blade. The satisfying sound of steel being drawn rung across the somewhat silent landscape. The steel of the blade beautifully reflected the backdrop of molten lava.

"... Can he forge another?".

It was less a question and more a statement.

Meltraus didn't hesitate to point a finger to a free forge station, "Go and make something boy."

Shirou did not argue as he was already walking to the forge, ready to immerse his body in the familiar heat of the forge and the sound of steel.

After all…

 _Steel was his body._

* * *

"Magi Tohsaka, are you certain that this is safe?"

"Of course it is, I already did the necessary preparations so don't worry about it." She replied, "And don't call me that."

Rin was currently in the backroom with Ferlna, which was actually twice as big as the actual storefront.

It was an empty and open space with the only places filled being the walls, up to the top with books and research scrolls on magical theory and history. Although, there was one barren wall that stretched out wide with a few burn marks on it.

Rin was honestly impressed when Ferlna showed her it. It meant that the books and scrolls on display outside were probably just surface level subject matters. The real meat of the dish were the countless papers that lined these walls.

Although, she was confused about the size of it. Was the Arcadia attached to a larger building behind it so maybe they were connected further? Were there higher floors with more magical knowledge? Maybe there was an enchanting catalyst nearby like what that enchantment book mentioned?

Rin decided to ignore those thoughts, for now. She had more current problems to deal with.

Such as right now, Rin was currently testing the various ways that the magical energy within the body of players – adventurers? – and Landers can create a clear and clinical method of approach to spell casting.

Something that was better than the bullshit that was the standard 'think and ye shall appear'.

"Still, it is quite a risk-filled venture," Ferlna continued, "New spellcasting methods have been thought of but none of them has gone to the extremes that you are doing, Magi Tohsaka."

"Progress is a step forward, you can't make any by standing still like an idiot." Rin berated, "I'll be starting the process, note down any contradictions to the theory."

Ferlna sighed and held the archaic clipboard before her, "As you wish. Starting test one, using the modified spellcasting method of a modular focal point on a simple Fireball."

Rin complied and poured the prana to her fingertips. She had to fight back the instinct to create a Finn Fire right then and there.

She wasn't going to be casting her usual Gandr and Finn Shot variants here, not just because she wanted to keep it a secret but because it wouldn't give an accurate result to their tests.

So first she coerced the prana laced with fiery elemental energy to her fingertips. Before the mana solidified, she willed it to rotate at rapid speeds on a focal point.

Fire sprouted from her fingertips, swirling like a miniature ball of fire.

Rin smiled as she focused on the focal point before sending a pulse of prana to it. The fireball flew forward towards the only empty wall at an average speed.

" **Fireball.** "

The resulting violent explosion caused Rin to smile as she tried to stifle her laughter.

A number flashed onto the wall, which didn't surprise Rin in the slightest. Ferlna mentioned that this used to be a place where Adventurers would test out their spells if they bought any tomes, so it was the perfect place to conduct the experiment.

"Well, there's that." Rin said, "How are we doing in the theory department?"

"... Are you sure that was indeed a Fireball, Magi Tohsaka?" Ferlna muttered, "The resulting output matched the power of the stronger Firebolt spell."

"Did it look like a bolt of fire or a fiery ball?" Rin asked with a raised brow.

Ferlna sighed and nodded, "Your point has been noted. Test notes that the spell's power increased by a clear seventy percent. However, the drain on mana appears to be a tad bit more. It still costed less than Firebolt though."

Rin was hooked up to a device that she spent the morning creating with the materials that Ferlna provided. It linked to her arm and measured the cost of spells down to the smallest decimal.

It was a bit useless to Adventurers seeing almost all of them could care less about researching magic. Although, the same could not be said for Landers. They had research to conduct, so the more accurate the measurements, the more accurate the results will be.

"I can decrease it by improving on the efficiency," Rin offhandedly commented, "Next test is Wind Burst right?"

"No, the next test is Wind Bullet, the weaker variant."

Rin nodded and proceeded to repeat the process. Pouring prana and then setting a focal point for the elemental energy to focus on before letting the pulse of prana blast it forward.

" **Wind Bullet.** "

The bullet of air crashed into the wall and let out a violent burst of wind.

".. yet again, a seventy percent increase in power when in comparison to the usual spell," Ferlna reported, "The cost is a tad higher but less than Wind Burst. The results line up."

"Don't jump to conclusions, the next test is Water Bullet?"

Seriously, would it kill this world to be a bit more creative with these names? At this rate, the greatest fire spell could be something named 'Pyroblast'.

Ferlna nodded and Rin cast the spell.

Results remained the same. They recorded and cast the remaining beginner spells, **Pebble Shot** and **Zap**. A seventy percent increase in power without efficiency kept in mind.

"Well, we can see that there's an improvement from just creating a focal point and sending it out," Rin confirmed and began writing the results of how the prana felt to her, "We can safely say that it improved, right?"

"I believe that is a safe assumption, Magi Tohsaka."

"Do you want to try? Maybe I'm just an outlier," Rin mused, "If that's the case, then the results won't matter if it only works with me."

"Very well," Ferlna nodded and took Rin's place, strapping the device to her own arm. In a few seconds, a ball of fire erupted in her palm, " **Fireball!** "

The fireball flew and exploded into the wall just like Rin's first attempt.

"As expected, a seventy percent increase." Rin commented, "How much mana did you expend? It should be seven mana at most."

Ferlna nodded, "Spells naturally cost twice as much more for Landers so I had to use fourteen points of mana. All within the theorized values."

 _Cost twice as much for Landers?_

Rin rose a brow, "Why is that?"

"I theorize that all adventurers are far more in tune with mana than Landers, which could also be a clue to your immortality," Ferlna said, to which Rin bristled. She was still uncomfortable with the idea of being unable to die like some kind of subset of Dead Apostle. "However, that isn't the focus of our current research."

Even if it wasn't the focus, it was a topic that Rin wanted to explore equally as much. It would definitely be a worthy venture.

"Right right, back to the topic at hand." Rin muttered. "Okay, looks like modular focal casting works. Let's experiment some more, can you cast that Firestorm spell?"

Ferlna frowned deeply, "If you wish for me to burn all the valuable research papers within this room then I'll have to respectfully decline. A regular Firestorm will destroy this room, one with a seventy percent increase in power output will most likely spread to the town and endanger other Landers."

Not players, because those guys can deal with it.

Rin nodded, "I suppose that's reasonable. Oh well, let's test the other theories."

She flipped the clipboard to the next page, "Begin test two, using the modified spellcasting method of a modular coiling of pr– I meant mana, on a simple Fireball. It's your turn so cast away~"

Ferlna nodded with a soft smile, "As you wish."

* * *

After way too many hours of continuous riding, they finally arrived at the quest location and Illya didn't mean the Depths of Palm.

She might have farmed for her beloved axe by killing monsters at the Depths of Palm, but that didn't mean that the quest giver was there.

The old ghost NPC, situated himself close to the halfway point to the Depths itself, around three sevenths if her math was correct, which made it a pain in the rear to accept the quest again and again whenever she didn't get the drop she wanted.

It truly was a test of endurance.

Even with the closeness of the journey, it still would have taken several additional hours of travel. Luckily, Eisel remembered a risky shortcut through 'Geldo Forest'.

They took this dangerous path only because they were a single pair of players.

If they had been a party of three or more, the forest would be spawning elite monsters such as Burly Grizzlies and Ferocious Vultures at levels eighty-five and higher, periodically.

This meant that a large party of players would be too preoccupied to travel safely or quickly.

Generally, players had to take the long way around, through the more peaceful roads, which would add hours to their travel time.

It wasn't even worth the effort to farm these elite monsters. They barely dropped any EXP and gold, and their only drops were meat that sold for a couple of gold to Landers. Even player chefs would rather use wild boar meat than grizzly or vulture meat.

A few of these elites did spawn on their way through, but paired with Eisel casting 'Foggy Mist' to remove any monster 'hate', they managed to lose any pursuing elite monster.

However, there were still the regular monsters of the forest like goblins or wild boars, all of which were levels lower than sixty.

Luckily due to the in-game rules, only a few segments of the path through the forest were combat zones so they didn't encounter monsters every few minutes.

They didn't even have to worry about these lower-leveled monsters though. Eisel had yet again come prepared with several 'Talismans of warding', a consumable item that lasts three minutes. When used, lower leveled monsters would be less likely to attack you on sight.

An unpopular item because players want to level up quickly, but very ideal for avoiding battles if you were at low health.

That being said, due to the unpopularity of the item, buying several batches of the talismans didn't cost much at all.

Maybe Illya should buy some in bulk to study them? Who knows, maybe they could replicate the effect with mana alone? If Rin's research extended to items and enchantments, then it could be beneficial.

They'd need the information to survive in this world, especially since they were all far from being the strongest players.

 _AGHHH, this was a pain!_

In other words, they made great time through the forest and skipped a lot of the other crap.

Illya dismounted her horse and gave it a slightly bitter glare, not that the horse cared at all. Stupid mule. If Illya had a better mount than the regular horse, then she would have gotten here sooner.

That wasn't what she was truly mad about actually.

Illya rubbed her butt and winced.

While her body moved with the knowledge of how to ride a horse, that didn't mean her rear didn't hurt like a bitch!

Riding on a mini-drake seemed so much better. Those things floated on the ground but couldn't fly, which meant that they could be less painful for the rear.

At least she had a round butt like Mama now, which probably mitigated the pain, but what did she know about horse riding? Literally nothing.

"Just walk it off Illyasviel," Eisel comforted, "We're here now. We just need to find that NPC…"

"Easy for you to say, your horse has a cushion on it!" Illya complained. Damned aesthetic players, spending real money on cosmetics! She wanted a cushion too but the in-game market is basically shot to hell!

Illya sighed and shook her head, "Never mind, the old ghost should be east of here. There's a fountain that he likes to linger around."

Eisel raised a brow, "We'll have to leave the path. You okay with walking?"

Illya nodded and pulled Golden Rhapsody out of her inventory. "I'm fine, let's get this over with."

Eisel nodded and the two left their horses at the small safe zone.

They were finally here, at the location that Illya got the quest, the Fountain of Heroes.

Illya quickly noticed the number of insects flying about. There were frogs eating the insects – she used to kill those for fun when she was lower-leveled – and there were some foxes running around too.

Normally following a fox in Elder Tale led to a randomly spawned chest with some gold, but seeing as this was real life now, she didn't want to spend time testing it.

She was honestly excited to return to the fountain. The water provided a nice fifteen percent gold drop boost, which was useful seeing as she wanted to upgrade their guild home as soon as possible.

She also liked the flowers there, white lilies reminded her of her mother. It didn't hurt that the NPC made funny jokes once in a while.

The other players didn't like the jokes though, something about them being dad jokes? Well, she didn't really have a dad growing up so it was interesting to note.

Illya stepped past some foliage and froze at the sight before her.

"Is that it?" Eisel asked, "I thought fountains had… you know, water?"

Illya frowned, "They do… at least, this fountain did…"

She was staring at a broken-down fountain, the top part of it shattered with debris spread across. The water that would shoot out from the water stones was absent, which probably meant that those stones had broken.

The white lilies that depended on that water had shriveled up in dehydration, leaving a brown and decaying surrounding area. There also seemed to be far more insects and beetles roaming the ground.

In short, it looked different to what Illya remembered.

 _Vastly different._

"What happened here…?" Eisel muttered, "I thought that the game areas remained the same. Was it the update?"

Illya shrugged, "That could be an idea, but more importantly we need to find that NPC. Maybe he'll know what happened here…"

She wanted answers to why her favorite spot in the game had turned into… a pile of shit, to put it lightly.

"I'll investigate the surrounding area," Eisel suggested, "Can you take a look at the fountain? There might be a clue to where that NPC is."

Illya wasted no time and walked to the fountain. There weren't any signs of erosion so it didn't destroy itself over time, the old ghost would have taken care of it anyway, seeing as his idle animations were about watering the plants…

So the fountain must have been destroyed by some sort of blunt force.

A battle. However, that didn't make sense to her. The old ghost NPC was level ninety and could three-shot any level-ninety tank.

Unless there was a Raid Party that took him out, Illya couldn't see how a battle could have done this… Except if the fountain broke and the ghost had no more power.

So did that mean that the ghost was gone?

Eisel's frantic shouting grabbed her attention.

"Illyasviel! Come look at this!"

Illya got up from the fountain and rushed over to the Crescent Moon Alliance member. "What is it?"

"I think I found our ghost."

Illya widened her eyes and hastened her pace. She walked past the fountain and into the foliage where Eisel's voice was coming from.

She shoved a branch out of her way before widening her eyes…

… The old ghost NPC was wearing his black battle armor, trapped in a giant golden crystal with his face frozen in shock.

Eisel let out an uneasy chuckle, "Well… we know what happened to the NPC now, right?"

Illya refrained from punching him in favor of rushing up to the statue and running her hands on the crystal itself.

She didn't know what this crystal formation was, but a quick structural analysis should do the trick. She wasn't as good as Shirou at it, but she at least knew how to look for weaknesses in an object.

At the center, where the ghost's chest was, lay a small medallion. It was where the crystal was drawing its power from. The thing was still full of energy, and it looks like it has been absorbing the ghost's mana to keep itself active.

The ghost had near infinite mana while near the fountain, which he technically still was, so this was the most efficient way to keep him trapped.

Although, it was not the perfect way. There were cracks throughout the crystal, not visible to the eye but small enough for something to slip through.

With that in mind, the way to get him out was simple.

"Stand back, Eisel," Illya commanded.

"You have an idea?" He asked.

A single nod was all it took for him to back away and let Illya do her thing.

Rin had shown that she could still use her old magecraft, so by extension, Illya should be able to do the same thing.

A strand of Illya's hair detached and inserted itself into the cracks of the crystal, weaving through it like a maze through countless twists and turns. It didn't take long before the strand reached the center of the medallion.

"Is it draining your mana?" Eisel asked, seeing the drain on Illya's mana pool.

Illya decided to just let him assume that. Letting him know that she was using magecraft to send mana through the cracks was a bit too troublesome to explain.

A burst of mana sent directly to her strand of hair stiffened it like reinforcement.

A final quick order was enough for the thin hair strand to pierce through the medallion, causing cracks to spread across the entirety of the crystal.

Illya took a leap back as the crystal fell to pieces, turning into golden dust before fading into the wind.

The ghost's expression fell, his eyes closed rapidly and his arms fell limply to his side–

 _Wait a minute, he was falling over!_

Illya held out her hands and caught the NPC, to her understandable surprise. It's not like it's possible to hold onto corporeal ghosts.

Then again this was Elder Tale, there were level fifteen ghosts in some catacombs to fight so maybe it was possible?

"You awake old man?" Illya tested.

After a few shakes and no response, she frowned. "Okay, he's out cold. Can you help me carry him to the fountain? The closer he is to it, the better he can recover."

Eisel nodded and hefted one arm around his shoulder. As Illya did the same, she could not help but wonder…

… _What exactly was going on here?_

The only explanation she had was the Novasphere Pioneer's update. It must have brought a continuation for the old ghost quest line.

The quest line ended with reforging the weapon and the old ghost giving his congratulations, but what if there was more?

" _That's the warrior's name,"_ She remembered Shirou saying, _"Tulius the Golden Rhapsody"_

When Shirou told her, she didn't truly believe that there was something more to her axe. She thought that it was just some flavorful history that her brother had uncovered.

As such, she told herself that she'd be fine with a small explanation from the ghost when she got here… but she didn't expect this at all.

The Novasphere Pioneers update had a very low chance of continuing this unpopular quest line, seeing as it was very grind-heavy, something that most players generally didn't really find fun.

However, Illya didn't care and persevered through it all, so maybe there was more to her beloved axe after all?

* * *

Meltraus was a hardy and stern man.

Even if adventurers try and barter for a better deal on his wares, he still wouldn't yield and ensure that everyone got the same _fair_ price.

After years of hard work, Meltraus had obtained the title of Grand Master Blacksmith. As the title says, he's the utmost respected and skilled smith in the city.

Granted, that was among the Landers. The adventurers with their fancy magic would never be able to make a blade using their own blood, sweat, and tears. Just give them materials and poof, there's a sword.

No effort, no skill, and to top it off they act as though they were better than him.

He knew that it wasn't fair, but it made him develop a stigma, a certain distaste of all things related to adventurers. Sure, he still sold to them, but it was a lucrative business that any smith worth their salt would do.

He needed that money to raise Melhia after all.

However one day, he met an adventurer that wanted to become a smith.

He knew that adventurers just create something and bam they call themselves smiths, so when this adventurer declined to use the magic and instead make a blade with his own two hands…

… He was honestly stunned beyond measure, not even his ancestors could have foreseen it.

The blade was forged well, well beyond the level of beginners. He could say it was amateur at worst, and above average at best. Much more than he could say about normal adventurer smiths.

The boy raised his blade, causing the rest of his fellow smiths to see the glistening steel reflect the light of the magma as if it was a mirror. Thinner than the blade he made before, but that was because the functionality was different.

There was undeniable skill and talent in this adventurer, and Meltraus wanted to flesh it out. The raw talent there, if sharpened and forged to a masterful degree, would come out as sharp as any Grand Master Blacksmith.

Perhaps the boy would one day exceed himself.

The thought that he was an adventurer didn't put a damper on his thoughts. Meltraus let the rest of his colleagues see what they were meant to see.

 _A master smith in the making._

"How did I do?" The boy asked, his eyes held the same kind of determination and steel that Meltraus had when he was but a wee lad.

Meltraus looked the blade over before turning to the peanut gallery. "Do you still oppose his addition to our ranks?"

The result was obvious.

Kazhak, the old bumbling dwarf with a love for all things alcoholic nodded. He took a swig of ale and let out a sigh.

"Alright Meltraus, I see what you're talking about." Kazhak grumbled, "We can sign him up in the guild as your apprentice."

There were a few grumbles of discontent, but Meltraus was sure they would fade with time as the boy proved himself to them all.

"Alright boy," Meltraus started, "Go and fill out the forms. You're not high enough to earn a forge yet, so you'll still be working in my forge as both apprentice and assistant, understood?"

The kid nodded and walked off to the desks.

Another thing that Meltraus liked about the boy, he was obedient and knew what to do.

If only he didn't have a lover, then he would have married that talent into his family. He was sure that Melhia wouldn't have minded.

"Meltraus."

 _That familiar voice…_

Meltraus grunted as he turned to face someone as tall as him. He was thinner and showed no sign of muscle, yet he wore the smith's robes and gloves all the same.

The pointy ears twitched as the glint in his slanted eyes spoke of intrigue and wonder.

"Halfas," Meltraus said, "You were watching, I take it."

Halfas chuckled lightly and nodded, "It was interesting, to say the least. I never thought there would be an adventurer that could actually forge a blade. It's been… well, I don't think there's ever been an adventurer like him."

This elf was a blacksmith like everyone else in this guild, but he made his worth not by his skill with a hammer, but by his appraising eye.

Meltraus still remembered when the elf enrolled in the guild, pointing out flaws in every design he came across and working with the original blacksmith to correct it.

He was not a traditional smith, but he was one nonetheless.

"How does his blade fair?" Meltraus asked to test the waters.

"Plain beyond belief." Halfas stated dryly as the peanut gallery dispersed, "It's so unbelievably ordinary that I couldn't believe my eyes."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"No, not at all," Halfas let out a chuckle once more. "You see, it was so ordinary that I couldn't find a single possible signature feature on it. The weapon was like a blank slate, yet there was some character to it. Does that make sense?"

Meltraus shrugged, "I saw a good blade and that was that."

"Boorish man, aren't you?" Halfas muttered, "You have to teach him some forging skills. I have a feeling he's done the same thing as before but changed the shape of the tip."

Meltraus shrugged once more but didn't give a reply.

He didn't need to, seeing as Halfas had picked up the handle-less blade and swung it a few times. "Oh my… if this had a handle, then I'd say that it'd be a worthy blade to sell at a high price."

He swung it again but wrapped fabric around the tang, where the handle was supposed to be. He swung it again, but this time there was form in his movement.

"Oh, truly remarkable. This blade is fit for thrusting, a rapier? How quaint," The elf mused, "In fact, in the hands of an adventurer of the Swashbuckler class, this would be a devastating weapon. Truly fascinating!"

"Are you done with the yapping?" Meltraus blurted out, "I have to get that blade fitted with a handle when we get back to my forge. Hand it over."

"Truly boorish," Halfas muttered as he handed the blade and took back the cloth. He turned around and walked away, "Remember to call me when you need some help training the boy! You're not the greatest instructor!"

"Don't tell me how to raise my apprentice, Halfas."

He chuckled, "Do you even know his name?"

At Meltraus' blink, Halfas laughed and walked away with a smug cheerful smirk.

 _What was the kid's name again?_

Meltraus frowned as he couldn't remember. Did he even ask?

His ears picked up the sound of the kid and Kazhak walking towards him.

"We have the papers finalized," Kazhak said and took another swig of his ale, "Shirou Emiya has been enrolled. Take care of your apprentice, will you? The last ones you had all quit."

Meltraus grumbled, "Those spineless whelps wouldn't know how to hold a hammer, let alone tend to the forge."

At least he now knew the kid's name.

"Come, Shirou Emiya," Meltraus said as held out the unfinished rapier, "Take your blade, we'll finish her up back at the shop."

Shirou nodded and grabbed the blade, following Meltraus on his way out of the Blacksmith's guild.

Meltraus was going to have a lot of fun teaching this young adventurer. He was certain that the boy wouldn't complain about his teaching methods.

Meltraus let a puff of air escape his nostrils. It wasn't odd to tell apprentices to forge daggers with a specific method until they mastered the act, surely not.

Eh, he had a feeling this 'Shirou Emiya', could handle it.

* * *

As Ferlna ticked the last checkbox on her list, she let a small sigh of relief escape as she turned to the rambunctious adventurer.

"We have gone through the entirety of the list, Magi Tohsaka." Ferlna asked, "Shall we run more tests or write down our findings?"

"We'll write them down," Magi Tohsaka decided.

Ferlna nodded, "I will be with you shortly. It is my duty to cleanse this room after every session of use."

Magi Tohsaka nodded and walked back to the storefront where she would take a seat and begin writing down their findings…

… or should she say Magi Tohsaka's findings.

Ferlna did not know whence Magi Tohsaka had been raised, but it must have been a place obscured from the reaches of the common magical society of researchers.

All the theories they had tested today were theories that the researching world had never thought of before.

When the world sought to improve by creating faster methods to cast spells, Magi Tohsaka came into the fray with ideas such as lengthening the process to increase power, efficiency, range, control, and every other possible variable that a spell could have.

It was as if the Magi had her own personal way of thinking with the miracle of magic.

Ferlna glanced at the room around her. The shattered shards of ice from her own modular upgraded spells had caused the most damage, yet she would have never achieved that possibility without Magi Tohsaka's input.

Boulders of earth, charred segments of the wall from bursts of lightning and fire, puddles of water, cracks and slices from wind, all of which varied in size and intensity.

If Magi Tohsaka had not been an adventurer, then Ferlna would have concluded that the woman was either the actual legendary Sage of Miral Lake and the current one was a front, or she was someone related to him.

The current Sage – Regan – was enigmatic and kept to himself. The rest of the magical researchers had barely heard a lick of anything from the man, but due to his position, they could not openly shun him.

Just like that sage, from the first day of her birth as the daughter of a prominent researcher she had expectations thrust upon her from the day she could control her mana.

Thanks to the gift of magic, Ferlna gained the dream of seeing a world where Magic held prominence and was accessible to even the weakest of Landers.

With that dream in mind, she worked tirelessly for it.

As she aged, so did her perspective. The mages were stagnant and refused to believe that their spellcasting method was anything but the absolute best way, unwilling to even compromise on a new method for the masses.

The researching magical society was a farce, even as a young teenager she had seen it.

At the young age of thirteen, she gathered her portion of savings and moved away from Eastal's capital to one of the more magically inclined cities…

The Adventurer city of Akihabara.

Here, practicality mattered more than the theory that the old and 'wise' magical researchers had created. She had no use for pointless theory, she sought results and proof that these findings can happen!

… but even when she arrived, she had made no significant leaps of her own. The adventurer mages would never even be open to conversation with her. Her answers and ideas dwindled down the drain quicker than she imagined…

… and then after five years of painful stagnation, the enigma known as Magi Tohsaka arrived at her doorstep.

She was an adventurer that looked roughly the same age as Ferlna herself and came with the same criticism and distaste that Ferlna had for the current state of spellcasting methods.

Spellcasting methods that the current age of magical researchers hold like the literal holy scriptures to their chests and possibly deeper in their souls.

From that shared criticism and distaste, came an increased interest.

At first, Ferlna wanted to know more about what kinds of criticism the Magi had and sought to bait them out from the strange adventurer. All of it in order to discover a way to lose her own stagnation now that there was someone who shared thoughts with her.

However, in an instant she had realized that what Tohsaka spoke of, the Magi had believed in its entirety.

What Ferlna had been shown tonight would no doubt rock the world of magical research off its feet.

Methods of improving efficiency by coiling mana, methods which improves its strength by condensing the elemental energy, and methods that boast a two hundred percent increase in mana efficiency.

Using a sliver of mana to cast a Fireball is a frighteningly useful concept, as well as making that fireball up to seventy percent stronger, with fifty percent more reach, and maneuverability that made other 'maneuverable' spells look like slow lumbering sloths.

Magi Tohsaka had ideas that could revolutionize, not to mention that they come to her like pigs to the slaughter.

Perhaps Magi Tohsaka… or rather, Tohsaka Rin, would become as famous as the original Sage of Miral Lake.

Only time could tell.

Ferlna dreamed of seeing a world where Magic held prominence and was accessible to even the weakest of Landers.

With Magi Tohsaka and the endless possibilities she may hold, Ferlna could do just that.

… but first, she had to clean this room.

Perhaps using the recently tested modular mana-coiling with Earth Shape spell would do the trick?

* * *

Sakura allowed herself to sigh.

She had been following Nazuna and Soujiro around the city trying to find a subclass for her to fit into.

There had been a few subclasses that she considered, such as the Tailor subclass to create leather equipment for Rin and herself, but even with that assurance, Sakura still had some unease when it came to the choice.

Granted, Rin didn't have a subclass either, but there wasn't a doubt in Sakura's mind that her sister would pick one up soon to aid in her research. Perhaps the alchemist subclass? Sakura wasn't really sure about what her sister would go with.

In any case, Sakura needed a subclass. She was technically the only member of their guild without a subclass or something to be preoccupied with.

"Well?" Nazuna asked, "Found any subclass that you like?"

She was also drinking some beer-water. They had decided to take a rest from wandering the city and settled in a nearby tavern.

There weren't many patrons other than the three of them, but this tavern was close to the outer rim of Akihabara, which meant that there weren't many players here to begin with.

"There's none that I feel comfortable with yet…" Sakura answered, taking her own tentative sip of beer. She was of legal age, but the beer-water she was drinking didn't really make her feel like it.

Soujiro nodded, "Don't worry, a lot of people struggle with this choice."

"Not me though~" Nazuna purred, "The moment I saw the 'Gambler' subclass, I knew what I was going for!"

"Nazuna, that's a role-playing subclass," Soujiro mentioned, "It doesn't even do anything."

"I know that," Nazuna said with a smirk, "But I still liked it!"

Sakura liked the sentiment of choosing a subclass that you like. However, seeing as she was extremely weak at level five, she needed to pick a subclass that could help her and her guild get stronger.

That was why Shirou went with the blacksmith subclass, to make their own weapons and become more economically stable.

Rin wasn't really in the same boat, but what she was doing wasn't financially draining in the slightest… for now.

Her self-appointed role was to discover new ways to exploit the magic system of this world, in order to help everyone in the guild survive easier.

Or at least, that was what they were convincing themselves of. They all knew that Rin was just doing the research because the magic of this world annoyed her heavily.

"Don't mull over the decision, Sakura-san," Soujiro said, interrupting her thoughts, "If you can't make a choice now, then there's always the 'Apprentice' subclass."

Sakura blinked.

"Pardon?" Sakura muttered, "I haven't heard of that subclass."

"That's because it's a subclass for indecisive people," Nazuna waved off, "You could go for it if you want. When you change to a better subclass, you'll be able to keep the EXP you have."

"There's such a thing like that…?" Sakura muttered, "Then, how do I obtain this subclass?"

"I don't know~" Nazuna shrugged. "I never really bothered to look it up. I'm certain that there's a player somewhere in the city that'll know." A mischievous smirk grew on her face. "Let's go ask!"

Sakura let out a yelp as Nazuna leaped from her seat and dragged Sakura out of the tavern, Soujiro following behind.

Sakura managed to wrench her wrist away, but still followed Nazuna as she walked along. "The idea is great, but do you even know who to ask?"

"Soujiro and I are part of the West Wind Brigade, Sou-chan over there is the guild master." Nazuna explained, "We'll just drop by our guild and see who knows~"

"That's a great idea!" Soujiro commented with a smile, "Everyone's already at the guild hall so it should be easy."

Sakura stifled a nervous frown.

She had heard from Illya that you could manipulate the area rules of a guild room you control. As such, she had thoughts about the possibility that they'd make it so she couldn't escape…

… but that was just the cynical part of her mind acting up.

Sakura liked to think that she was good at reading people's intentions, or at least capable of noticing any hint of malicious intent from others. She felt that from that 'Hamelin' guild, but she couldn't feel it from these two players.

Sakura sighed. Perhaps she should give them a chance?

It's what Shirou would have done.

Nazuna let out a sigh of relief, "We're here!"

Sakura moved away from her thoughts and gazed at their guild home–

A nostalgic feeling overcame her.

It was a rather quaint and traditional Japanese home. Walls surrounded the actual building itself, but it carried none of the vines and other such overgrowths that littered the rest of the buildings in the city.

There was also a gate that blocked their way in, but it seemed to open up automatically once Soujiro stood before it.

It actually reminded Sakura heavily of the Emiya Residence…

"Come on," Nazuna prompted, "It's much nicer inside than it is out here."

Sakura nodded and stepped through the two large gates to follow them. She walked past a few oriental gardens along the way and noted the number of cherry blossoms that filled it.

Nazuna shoved a traditional sliding door open and strutted her way inside. "Hey, any of you in here? Kawara? Dolce?"

Another door slid open to their left, a lethargic woman wearing a yellow tank top covered by a pink cardigan walked out. She had green hair and two elf ears poking out from her sides.

The woman let out a yawn before turning to Nazuna, "Oh, Nazuna? What's wrong? Did you forget something…?"

"Good morning, Fragrant Olive." Soujiro greeted.

"Oh…" A swift blink was all it took for her to banish her lethargy. "Oh! Welcome back Sou-sama!"

It was then that the woman noticed the odd person in the room, namely Sakura. The woman, known as Fragrant Olive, blinked twice and sent glances between both her and Nazuna.

"... did you multiply or something? If so, can you do the same with Sou-sama!?"

Her breathing went hard as she said that last part– was she bleeding from her nose!? You could bleed in this game world!?

Nazuna let out a stifled laugh, "No I didn't. This girl is Sakura, we kind of saved her from Hamelin. She was looking for a subclass and we couldn't decide. So we've gone with the alternative, any idea how to get the apprentice subclass?"

The woman sent a long hard glance at the Sakura before turning back to Nazuna.

"Is she going to join our guild…?" She asked with narrowed eyes, "I'm not really open to new members, especially another girl. Our guild already has an odd reputation as it is."

Sakura could tell that there was a hidden intent in there somewhere…

"Olive, that's rude," Soujiro berated.

Nazuna smiled and let a small chuckle out, "Don't worry about that, she should be fine. Sakura isn't interested in Sou-chan, right?"

It came to Sakura as quick as lightning.

 _Ah, that's how it is…_

Sakura let a small smile rise, "I'm afraid not, I already have a lover."

All three of the veteran players blinked in surprise.

"Y-you do?" Fragrant Olive muttered in disbelief before looking her over once more. There was a new glint in her eyes, "Well, I can help you get the subclass… that is, if you're willing to do me a favor…"

Sakura kept her polite smile up even as amused laughter threatened to leak out. She could read the intent of the woman even before Sakura could ask what the favor was.

Sakura nodded, "That should be fine."

She already had an inkling as to what she wanted.

"Okay, glad we came to an understanding," She started, "Just get anyone with a maxed Non-Role Playing subclass to give it to you," She walked up to Sakura and held out a hand. "It should be easy… my game character did something like this and said something like 'You're an apprentice now' or something."

Sakura blinked as a strange floating box, reminiscent of her menu, appeared in her vision.

' _Would you like to become a(n) 'Apprentice'?'_

The moment Sakura tapped on the 'yes' option, her subclass status updated. The three other veteran players noticed, but only one made a reaction.

Nazuna whistled as she walked up to her, "Wow, that was easier than I thought…"

"Congratulations, Sakura-san!" Soujiro said.

"More importantly…" Fragrant Olive interjected, "You have to show me how to get Sou-sama to notice me!"

A few seconds of silence passed.

It didn't take long for Nazuna to sigh in exasperation, "Olive… are you serious…?"

Soujiro simply tilted his head, "I already notice her though…?"

Nazuna sighed once more, "Okay, I see your point." She turned to Soujiro and pushed him out of the room, "Sorry about this Sou-chan, this is a girl-only talk."

He couldn't even offer a word of protest as she swiftly shut the door.

Fragrant Olive pointed directly at that very same door, "That is exactly what I– no, _we_ have to deal with! How do we get a man as dense as him to notice us!?"

 _Us?_

"Yes, please do tell," Nazuna added, "We've been at this for years, even when we were just playing Elder Tale as a computer game. Still no progress whatsoever. He's as dense as a brick."

 _Ah… so it was 'that' kind of situation…_

Sakura was very familiar with that situation.

"Are you sure you want to know…?" Sakura said slowly, "If I tell you how, it'll change your guild dynamics forever."

Fragrant Olive froze as she hesitated and Sakura could see why. Starting that relationship had risks, namely the risk that their shared love interest didn't feel the same way.

Granted, any average boy would be over the moon if there were loads of girls lining up for him.

However, from the impressions that Sakura got from that guild master… He definitely seemed like the kind of person that wouldn't want to hurt the feelings of anyone.

"T-That's… a risk that I'm not sure I want to take." Fragrant Olive admitted, "I'll have to ask everyone else about the idea first. I might like him, but I don't want everyone else to feel left out."

"I hate to admit it, but that's a good call," Nazuna said, "I'm not sure if Isami, or even Kawara, would be too keen on the idea."

Sakura didn't know who those two were, but her sentiments about the idea didn't change.

"You'll have to ease them into the idea slowly," Sakura said, "Don't spring it abruptly on them. Not everyone will be open to the idea."

Rin certainly blushed up a storm when Sakura had first suggested it to her.

It was a shame though, Sakura would have dragged Mitsuzuri into the relationship if she was allowed to.

Her adopted brother often spoke of the wonders of a harem, despite the fact he didn't have one, so it was a decision that Sakura felt would have made Shirou happy, and Mitsuzuri too if she agreed.

It was too bad that Rin denied the idea though, the two of them could barely handle their shared lover as it is.

Fragrant Olive sighed, "Well, looks like that idea's out of the picture."

"At least for now," Nazuna said, "We'll just send you a message if we change our mind though."

Sakura nodded, "Thank you for helping me obtain a subclass, I'll be sure to pay back the favor in the future."

She turned to leave, but both Nazuna and Fragrant Olive waved her a farewell.

"See ya later, Sakura-chan~" Nazuna bid, "If you get confused about your Fox Tail racial traits, just send me a message~"

Sakura nodded and made her way out of the oriental guild house.

It was odd to find a guild that wanted to share their guild master among themselves like that. Although, Sakura wasn't one to judge. She'd be a hypocrite if she did.

Hopefully, they'd come to a consensus and start the polygamy. They weren't in the same world as before, so who knows what the marriage laws are like here?

It'd hinge on that dense guild master to notice though, which Sakura wasn't too sure he would. Shirou had to have her shove her tongue down his throat to finally get the idea.

Oh well, at least she has a subclass now, technically.

She still didn't know what kind of subclass she'd be going for, but at least she had a way to transition easily.

Illya would be happy about that.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey there!**

 ***Avoids thrown eggs***

 **Okay... I did say this was coming out next month, but as you can see, this is technically the next-next month. Sorry, this chapter came out late, college absolutely SWAMPED me with work. I still have to hand it a research paper this Friday, do an assignment due tomorrow, and also compute the data from surveys. Things are absolutely crazy, but that should be expected of college.**

 **From here, the Emiya Family has split again, but you can see where each of their respective paths are going, right? I do have long-term plans for them by the way so don't worry about me leaving this story half-baked. I see Log Horizon as more of an Isekai show anyway, so in turn with the traditions of the genre, they're making waves just by existing. Half the reason why I like Isekai stories.**

 **I'll try not to be late for the next chapter this month (because it's already a new month where I am), so review if something bugs you heavily, if you spot a grammar mistake, or have any questions that you feel need to be answered right away (as long as it isn't spoiler related that is).**

 **Also, totally didn't retcon a few facts.**

 **Until next time.**

 **Kappa.**

 **A/N 2: Fixed a continuity error about Sakura's level, credit to Spartan111MS for the find.**

 **P.S. I also rolled Scathach=Skadi in a single ticket last week. Don't have any materials to raise her skills past level 2, but that's because I used them up for Merlin months ago.**

 **A/N 3: Fixed some grammar errors.**


	6. Chapter 6: Minor Issues

**Chapter 6**

 **Beta: Worldbringer of Joesun**

* * *

After returning from the blacksmith's guild, Meltraus didn't waste any time in giving Shirou the task of refilling their stock of iron swords. Apparently, some adventurers had arrived and purchased all of them.

Melhia handled the stall while they were away, but she was a tad bit too intimidated by the adventurers to inquire anything further. It was a bit unfortunate, but the giant grandmaster blacksmith didn't really mind. He said that those blades were just gathering up dust anyway.

While Shirou was forging the first blade, Meltraus had come over and explained where to strike for the most efficiency, how hard to strike, and what temperature to use to temper the blade.

Granted, Shirou could already tell the tolerance of the iron by simply using structural analysis, but learning how to do it manually was a better alternative.

Shirou wanted to learn how to create these blades using his own experience and skill, not from the memories of every other blacksmith's hammer he found.

As Shirou hammered away to flatten the edges, the stall door opened up as a cheerful voice called from outside.

"Little Melhia~" the voice sang, "It's your uncle Halfas~"

Shirou didn't pause in his work but did notice how Melhia shuddered and paused in her work, no longer recounting their stock.

Meltraus simply groaned and put his hammer down. "What does that blasted elf want now…?"

 _An elf?_

Shirou was familiar with the race, even if it was only because of how they were portrayed in popular media, but he was curious as to what an actual one looked like.

The elf stepped into their forge, wearing the standard equipment for a blacksmith. His eyes wandered for a few seconds before finally landing on Melhia.

"There you are!" He cheered, "Sorry! Your Uncle forgot it was your birthday last week so I haven't given you your present yet!"

 _Uncle?_

There was also the fact of her birthday. Sakura would probably like to gift her something, even if it was just a courtesy. He was certain that his lover liked the girl enough to do so.

"You're not her uncle," Meltraus grumbled.

"Don't be rude, papa," Melhia whined, but it came off weak and without much bite. "Uncle, you didn't have to get me a present. I'm not a little girl anymore."

Meltraus once more grumbled something in disagreement, but he wasn't really acknowledged by the elf this time around.

"But–! It is rude to forget your friend's birthday in your culture, correct?" Halfas reasoned, "Don't be like your old man and just accept the gift~"

Within half a second, the elf had tossed something from his pocket and into the young woman's hands, who stumbled to catch it before it hit the floor.

She pouted his direction, but it faded once she saw what she caught.

A golden necklace with a sapphire cut into the shape of a diamond embedded into it.

"This is…" she muttered, "You made this? It's… beautiful?"

Halfas simply smirked as he sent a glance towards Meltraus, "I used gold and pure Azarite. How's that? My smithing skills are great, aren't they?"

Shirou's hammer stopped in surprise but continued on its way shortly after, not wanting to ruin his creation.

 _What in the world was Azarite?_

Meltraus simply gave the necklace a glance.

"The jewel was cut unevenly," he started, "The gold looks warped like it was cut with sheers, and the chain looks like it was welded on without grinding away the excess gold. This is below average."

Brutally honest, Shirou's master was.

The elf simply withered and fell to his knees, theatrically clutching his heart.

"Papa!" Melhia scolded, "That's rude! I'm sure Halfas worked very hard on it!"

"No, your father is right!" The elf bounced right back on his feet, "I still have much to learn!"

Meltraus sighed, going back to fitting a hilt onto Shirou's earlier make. "I'll never know how someone with such deep insight of smithing such as yours can't even forge anything worthwhile…"

"Maybe you should stop trying to smith, Halfas?" Melhia suggested, "You're much better at analyzing anyway."

Shirou wondered what that meant as he doused the heated blade into water, a form of heat-treating as Meltraus called it.

The elf sighed.

"Well, it was only for today that I decided to create it…" he sent a glance towards Shirou, "Your birthday was the main reason I came here, but that doesn't mean that I couldn't spare time for something a bit more… interesting."

His tone of voice changed the moment he stopped talking to his surrogate niece. From the carefree and joyful tone came forth a much more… curious and amused one.

Shirou wasn't unnerved in the slightest, seeing as he was already done forging the iron sword and had moved onto the next, but he was very wary.

"Hello, young apprentice," Halfas greeted, standing a tad bit away from where Shirou was hammering an ingot. "My name is Halfas Fortesa Dyrnnschwallen, a pleasure to meet the apprentice of the old grandmaster smith himself."

"Halfas," Meltraus warned, "Be careful of what you say."

He spun to face him with his hands raised in surrender, "Nothing out of the ordinary dear Meltraus, I'm merely a fan of his work. All I have is an inkling suspicion…"

Halfas turned back to Shirou, "It is unusual to see such quality works from someone who has only recently begun an apprenticeship, let alone an adventurer using traditional methods."

He had a feeling that the elf was probing for something, but whatever it was, Shirou couldn't tell.

"Using ordinary smithing techniques in a regular forge.…" Halfas continued, "… How is it possible that you were able to create something like that? Even I can feel it, you're different from other adventurers, aren't you?"

Shirou's wary feeling doubled.

"I'm not sure what you are implying… sir."

"Simple," he continued, "I noticed your mana go down like a regular adventurer when forging a blade, yet nothing appeared out of nowhere."

Shirou blinked.

Was it from using structural analysis? Did his spell draw from his mana reserves as a player?

"Did you think that you wouldn't be noticed? As an elf, I am naturally more in tune with mana, meaning it was easy to notice," Halfas said, "Either you're different by the fact that you cannot use the smithing magic of adventurers… or you're a sham."

The silence that followed was deafening, enough so that Shirou had to pause from hammering the second iron sword.

Melhia looked a tad skeptical at the insinuation but did not say anything back.

Meltraus, on the other hand, had his eyes narrowed and focused on Shirou. "I trust you boy," he said, "but I also trust Halfas. If you can't explain what he's talking about…"

The rest of the sentence went unsaid, but the intent was clear.

Shirou nodded.

He didn't want to lose the apprenticeship, he still had much to learn. The alternatives were either to leave and halt his smithing until he could purchase a forge, which would cut deeply into their budget…

… or he'd tell them.

Should he? Shouldn't he?

A simple glance out the window gave him enough reason to answer.

This wasn't his world, there was no such thing as a mages association or purpose to keeping their magic secret. Illya had said they should keep it from players to keep them from becoming envious.

But she didn't say anything about Landers.

"If you don't tell any other adventurer, then I can explain without a delay."

A simultaneous nod came from all the Landers.

"It's a kind of magic that I use called structural analysis," Shirou explained, noticing how focused the smiths were listening to him, "It allows me to scan an object and learn its weaknesses, tolerances, and strengths. I use it so I can learn where to strike, when to strike, and how to strike."

He held up two separate iron ingots. He raised the one in his left hand, "This ingot weighs 9 kilograms and is purer in comparison to the other ingot, which weighs 9.3 kilograms and has some more tin within it so it isn't as pure. From this information, I can determine what's the best way to handle the metal."

"Fascinating…" Halfas muttered, "Such implications of a spell like that… are you certain that no other adventurer knows this?"

"In my guild, there are a few that know,"

"Sakura-chan knows?" Melhia asked.

"A little," Shirou admitted, "But not to the extent that I can. You can say that I mastered it." He turned to face Meltraus, "Are you satisfied with my answer, grand master smith?"

His glare had lessened, but he still stood rigidly.

"Can you attest that you made those blades to the best of your ability?"

Shirou nodded.

Meltraus' shoulders fell, "I'm still unsure on whether or not I like the fact that you use magic to smith, but I'm willing to overlook it. However, I forbid you from using… magic, while we are working. Experience is a better teacher."

"Well, that was a better explanation than I thought," Halfas mused, "I thought your dear apprentice was being magically aided by the gods. Not sure which is better, to be honest~"

Of course, the traditional smith would say that. Shirou couldn't really disagree and nodded.

"Get back to forging those blades," Meltraus ordered, "There's more work to be done later."

Shirou did as he was told, even as Halfas was looking over him with a mischievous grin.

"Oh no you're not!" He cheered, "Make something exciting, like a battleaxe!"

"He starts with the basics first!"

"But battle axes are magnificent!"

Shirou hoped that he could keep focused on the task at hand.

At least he got to keep his apprenticeship, his Blacksmith Subclass was rising in levels steadily and he didn't really want to stall the progress in the slightest.

Although admittedly he had to put the sword-in-progress away in order to help Melhia stop Meltraus and Halfas from arguing like children.

 _Blacksmiths, they were stubborn as nails._

* * *

After repairing the testing room, Ferlna found herself stood on a stool busy sorting the displayed books and scrolls in her store. Most of them ended up out of order after Magi Tohsaka ruffled through them all.

The same offending adventurer sat by the counter and began reviewing their research notes. Ferlna wanted to contribute to it, but all thoughts and inputs she delivered had already been thought of by the Magi.

Ferlna had a feeling that 'Magi', was not supposed to be used in a singular form. She did not know why, but she felt it anyway.

"Okay, so that's how that reacts…" Magi Tohsaka muttered with quiet fervor, "… All that's left is to compile the notes– ah no wait, we still need to test if simultaneous modular spellcasting is possible…"

Ferlna nearly stumbled from the stool she stood on.

 _Simultaneous–!? Does she mean casting two spells at once!?_

Ferlna had to take a moment to simply breathe, hoping that the genius adventurer sitting away from her didn't notice her embarrassing stumble.

In her defense, what the Magi – that truly did not feel right – had just said was shocking. It had long since been accepted that the spellcasting of two spells at the same time was nigh-impossible.

In the first place, researchers determined that using two spells at once came with several complications, the most notable being two.

The first was the chant, which would need to be overhauled and changed for it to work, in which case they haven't cast two spells but created a new singular spell instead.

Chanting a Fireball and a Wind Bullet at once would require saying both of their names, but doing so at the same time would just come out as Fwiirnedbbaullllet, which did not make any sort of sense at all. The spell would either not work or fail spectacularly.

There were also non-chanting spells but those came with the other underlying problem, the second complication of focus.

Focusing on a spell required your undivided attention, using only half of your mental capacity on such a task would come with the same error as previously stated. There have been cases by reckless novice sorcerers that burned their robes while trying to do so.

In short, researchers concluded it to be impossible. Even as Ferlna disliked their mentality, she could not find any fault in those particular reports.

… but Magi Tohsaka did not care for that, did she? Perhaps the modular spellcasting could provide the solution. If not, then Ferlna was certain that the Mag– Tohsaka Rin would not be downtrodden and would simply carry on with new research.

As Ferlna was about to offer her help for the testing stages, a ring echoed through the store.

 _A customer?_

She pried her attention away from the Sorcerer adventurer and laid her eyes on the new arrival.

Ferlna blinked.

It was an old lander with a ginger beard that extended down to his knees and a long rimmed hat sat atop his head. The most defining feature he had was the white robes he wore, which was the hallmark of a magical researcher.

There was no doubt that he was one because Ferlna knew him far too well.

"Caelus?"

"Greetings Ferlna," Caelus started with a polite and calm smile, a nostalgic sight to be had. "I'm here with the supplies. I hope that I am not intruding."

His eyes lit up as he noticed something behind her. "Oh? Is that an adventurer I see? Did one of them actually decide to work for you?" He jested.

Ferlna sighed with a relaxed smile, "No, she is not. I am not a miracle worker, old friend."

Magi Tohsaka was the one who deserved that title.

"The adventurer is an acquaintance of mine named Tohsaka," Ferlna introduced Rin, who had not even looked up from their research papers, "We've been collaborating on several research topics."

"Oh?" His eyes widened, "Are you finally going to return to Eastal then? The others await your results eagerly…" His eyes lowered to prevent his gaze from being seen, "… Especially since it has only been a week after the May Incident. The Lords are eager to find any possible explanation as to what happened."

 _Ah… yes, that was correct…_

She had been so caught up lately on their shared research ventures that she didn't truly realize about how her fellow Landers over at the capital were feeling about the simultaneously break down that all the adventurers had.

She was the only Lander researcher that chose to live alongside the adventurers, meaning that out of all the kingdom's greatest, only she had the experience necessary to look into the incident. Even though Ferlna only knew as much as her eyes could tell her.

Should she look into it further…? It would delay their shared research by a substantial amount but if the Lords were this worried… was it not her duty as a citizen of Eastal to look into it?

"Ferlna? Who's the old guy?" Rin ever so bluntly asked only now just noticing his presence.

Ferlna turned to the woman whom she had rapidly gained respect for, "This man is Caelus, the only Lander Alchemist you can find in Akihabara. He is the sole alchemical reagent supplier for the Arcadia."

Rin regarded him with a singular look before shrugging, "Alright, don't let me disturb you."

Ferlna hadn't known Tohsaka Rin for long, but she could feel that the sorcerer did not have any interest in her old friend.

"Please leave the supplies in the back room," Ferlna asked, "I believe I do not need to show you the way?"

Caelus nodded with a soft chuckle, "I've been here enough times to know where to go. Don't pay me any mind~"

As the old lander walked past the adventurer, he entered the back room and shut the door, leaving the store to be enveloped in a moment of silence.

"Are you sure it's okay for him to be in there alone?" Tohsaka Rin asked.

"As Caelus said, he has been here more than enough to know. He should be out any minute now." Ferlna replied with a hint of exasperation.

Was Magi Tohsaka worried that he would learn of their research? Not that any Lander could ever hope to replicate her findings so far. Perhaps she was just protective of their research?

"Hmm…" Tohsaka Rin mused. However, she seemed to simply continue with her look of disinterest, choosing to instead continue to write down their findings.

It only took a few moments until Caelus returned from the back room and left, wishing Ferlna luck on future endeavors, paying nothing but cautious heed to the adventurer manning her station.

"Have a good day, Ferlna." He wished.

As usual, Landers would forever see adventurers as something to be avoided. It was a stigma that each side shared since the day that the first adventurer arrived.

Ferlna nodded as he left the store, "To you as well, Caelus."

When the store bell rang, signifying his departure, Ferlna allowed herself a single breath of reprieve. Perhaps she should prepare for a trip to Eastal, to ease the worries of the Lords?

"By the way, Ferlna…" Tohsaka Rin asked, her gaze not once leaving the research papers.

"Hm?"

Ferlna blinked as she awaited the question that Magi Tohsaka was about to ask. However, as the seconds dragged on, Ferlna found herself about to ask what–

"What is the May Incident?"

Just like that, Ferlna felt her throat dry and heart rate shoot up.

 _W-what? Did she overhear?_

However, true to her conditioning as a noble, she maintained a calm demeanor and replied as politely as possible.

"Pardon?" Ferlna found herself saying, her upbringing as a noble creating an automatic response. "I do not believe I understand what you are referring to."

The adventurer's response was to send Ferlna a minor look of exasperation as if she was just a tad bit annoyed yet tired at the same time. "I'm not deaf, that old guy didn't whisper as quietly as he thought."

She set down the research papers, sat on the counter, and gave Ferlna a look of warning. It was a look that clearly said that if Ferlna lied here, then there would be repercussions.

"This May Incident sounds like something I should know about, seeing the urgency that the old man had when talking to you about it…" her eyes sharpened "… So either you tell me about it, or I walk out this store and never come back. I can continue my research alone, with or without your help."

But she still needed access to the books of the Arcadia, right?

 _No, she didn't._

Ferlna knew her for a day, but even she could tell that this adventurer wouldn't mind leaving and simply purchase or look elsewhere for the books in question.

Ferlna needed her to obtain her dream, but Tohsaka Rin certainly did not.

"… Fine." Ferlna found herself saying once more, "The May Incident happened a few days ago. I believe that the adventurers had come to call such an event as the 'Apocalypse' as it were."

Tohsaka's eyes showed no sign of recognition, so Ferlna took it as a prompt to continue.

"One day, all adventurers simply stopped what they were doing – whether it be browsing the stalls or simply walking – and fell as if they were puppets with their strings cut."

 _Ferlna looked outside her window as an adventurer fell flat, her head crashing onto the window with an audible thud, yet nothing broke as per usual._

 _What in the world…?_

 _As if the adventurer had lost its meaning, she fell onto the ground alongside the hundreds of other adventurers around the street. Even some within her store fell, leaning onto the bookshelves like broken mannequins._

 _What was going on?_

 _Ferlna left her seat to check on the adventurers, confirming the existence of a pulse on all the ones in her store._

… _What had just happened?_

Ferlna sighed as she continued. "When the adventurers awoke, they were far more lively. Unlike before, your kind displayed emotions that any normal person would have… and with that new-found liveliness, you all displayed fear and anger."

 _When Ferlna moved away from an odd bunny-eared adventurer, she noticed a few of them stirring._

" _Were they alright now?" She remembered herself mumbling._

 _Ferlna personally looked over a guardian-class adventurer and checked to see if he would awaken._

 _His eyes snapped open, a show of life and confusion overtook his visage as he struggled to push himself up, gazing at the surroundings with his pupils dilating._

 _Ferlna said nothing and simply gazed at him with new burning curiosity._

 _It was when the adventurer screamed that Ferlna regretted that choice of inaction._

… _Perhaps she should have offered a word of comfort._

 _Such an incredibly small and insignificant act could have prevented the following choir of despair._

It was something that no Lander could forget, not even if they tried.

They had tried to return back to their way of life, but Ferlna knew that it was going to be impossible. The adventurers might have awoken from whatever miniature slumber affected them, but their mental states had forever altered.

That sudden change in behavior to an entire race of people… what if such a thing could happen to them?

"We were confused as to what to do," Ferlna explained with a calm breath in contrast to her thoughts. "The stalwart and emotionless protectors of our race had suddenly changed, as if the natural order of the world had been irrevocably altered."

"Eventually after a few relayed messages from courier pigeons, that day was marked as the May Incident… the day that all adventurers changed." Ferlna finished.

She looked towards the adventurer once more, "Does that answer your question, Magi Tohsaka?"

The following silence that came from the adventurer was unnerving, but the resulting chuckle was certainly not what she expected.

"Was that it?" Rin muttered, still trying to contain a few late chuckles, "Something like that… True, I can see the cause for concern."

… After an explanation like that, all this adventurer could do was laugh?

Laugh at the event that changed the lives of people?

The event that caused so many Landers to alter their very jobs to accommodate the lack of adventurers?

… All she did was laugh?

"Tell you what," Rin offered after she had calmed down. "I'll help you out on your research about the May Incident if you want, but only after we finish this paper."

… _What?_

The more Ferlna listened to this adventurer, the more she found herself being surprised.

"Is that a deal?" Rin asked once more. "Being an adventurer myself, I could yield valuable research data. I doubt any other adventurer will agree to participate anyway."

… Ferlna could not explain it.

After feeling a resurgence of fear from being caught out, to indignation at the tribulations of Landers, and finally to a…

… A strange sense of relief.

Truly, Tohsaka Rin broke all conceived notions she had about adventurers.

"... Very well," Ferlna replied as she walked towards the research paper, "Let us finish this task. I hope that you intend to keep your word, Magi Tohsaka."

"Don't worry, my pride as a Magus won't allow that," Tohsaka claimed. Ferlna wasn't sure if it was in pride or arrogance, but honestly, that wasn't what the Lander focused on the most.

 _Magus._

 _Ah… So that was the singular term… Magus Tohsaka…_

"Now let's prepare the room again," Rin informally ordered, "I want to try out simultaneous modular spellcasting."

"As you wish," Ferlna agreed with a glint on the rim of her glasses. "… Magi Tohsaka."

"… When will you stop calling me that, Ferlna?"

Ferlna found that she liked that nickname far more.

* * *

Illya knew that the storyline was most likely going to be overly long and contrived like all MMO storylines…

"–and that was when those cultists sprung their vile trap and encased me in an impenetrable crystal."

… but this was just getting plain ridiculous.

At the present, Illya sat on the broken remains of the fountain while Eisel stood close by. The old ghost, whose name is Krentelfal by the way, hovered before her.

He didn't have any legs as usual and floated like a spirit, but he wore steel mail armor that covered everything on him. The sole exception was his head, which lacked a helmet in order to show off his scraggly beard.

Krentelfal was basically an old ghost knight without legs or a weapon.

Didn't really need one when you could smash level 90's with fists alone…

Moving on… to summarize what this old ghost had just told her…

Belaphr, the monster that the golden rhapsody Tulius – previous wielder of her beloved axe – had slain, was going to be revived by some cultists. However, to do so they would need the sacrifice of one of Tulius' equipment, probably due to some spiritual connection, which will revive this… monster at full strength.

They managed to obtain a piece of Tulius' armor, which Krentelfal had been guarding under the fountain, after using a unique item that reduced the strength of all undead creatures by ninety-percent.

It was absurdly broken and Illya wanted it, but then she remembered that she broke it earlier, so that was impossible to achieve.

She did collect the fragments though, just in case.

"All we have to do is eliminate some cultists, correct?" Eisel asked, to which the old ghost nodded, "Alright… I need to talk to my guild master."

As Eisel opened up his menu, Illya was left to ponder the plot that they had been handed.

It was basically a miniature demon lord revival scenario, and not even a good one. It was overdone and could be found across various games. An ancient evil was going to awaken, so you have to slay some things until it won't.

Ah… the wonders of MMO writing. Sometimes you strike gold but most of the time you find coal.

"So…" the old ghost said once more, "Knowing all this, will you aid in preventing Belaphr's revival and subdue these cultists before the worst comes to pass?"

… Corny dialogue aside, it was still an issue that needed to be addressed.

Belaphr sounded like a raid boss name, something that she was woefully underprepared to tackle. If she declined this quest, then was there a chance that this monster could come to life and wreak havoc?

Since this world followed some game logic, perhaps it would. There were events in the past that changed everything like that. She distinctly remembered something about culling a goblin population, but the higher level players usually dealt with it quickly so she didn't have much knowledge on that.

Was this something similar? Periodically killing cultists to ensure that this raid-boss level threat didn't come back to life?

 _Oh, who am I kidding?_

Knowing the game intimately, Illya was hard-pressed to not acknowledge the possibility.

With that in mind, Illya turned to Eisel, who nodded towards her in a show of confirmation, his hands already dropping away from a fading menu screen.

Marielle must have agreed then… Well, at least she has company.

"We'll help in taking out the cultists," Illya accepted, "If you can show us the way, we can head over there right now."

It was just going to be killing a few cultists, nothing too hard. After all, compared to her childhood, it was going to be a cake walk.

"While I do not know where they have fled," Krentelfal replied, "I do know of the location of one of their hidden lairs. It is west of here, towards the Depths of Palm."

… _Great._

"Come on, Eisel," Illya called, walking over to her horse, "The sooner we get this done, the better."

"No complaints there…" Eisel muttered an agreement.

It didn't take long before they arrived back at their horses. Eisel walked up to his and stroked its mane, watching as it neighed in delight.

Truly, the world around them was real. Elder Tale couldn't simulate something like that, only a couple of different idle animations were possible to add variety. A horse neighing and moving depending on where you stroke it, responding to you when you talk to it?

It would take a literal butt load of code to make that possible, which isn't the case because this was an MMO. That coding space could be used for things like new monsters and content instead.

Illya sighed at the prospect and leaped onto her horse, watching it neigh in slight indignation, which Illya found to be a bit troublesome.

"Suck it up."

"That was certainly rude."

Illya could not help but to leap off her horse with a girlish squeal.

The action disturbed the horse, who reared onto its hind legs, in turn startling Eisel's horse, but he managed to calm it down before it did anything drastic.

Illya's horse though? It became an idiot and froze on the spot. Not even Illya knew why…

… Actually, wait, there was a far more important matter that needed addressing.

When Illya managed to stand, she sent a glare at the offending party that startled her, and her horse by proxy.

"Krentelfal…" Illya began nicely, "Why have you followed us?"

The old ghost knight simply stroked his beard as it floated above the horse. "Well, you see the fountain was my spiritual anchor to this plane of existence. Without it constantly supplying me with mana, I will soon fade back into oblivion or the afterlife as it were."

"Yes, go on." Illya urged, noticing a pause he had.

"It's dreadfully boring over there. So I don't want to go back," he answered, "In order to make sure that I don't return beyond the grave, I made you into one."

Illya blinked.

"What?"

"You are my permanent spiritual anchor now," he said unashamedly as he stroked his beard. "You have been for the last few minutes."

… and that's her headache again, returning with a vengeance.

Illya suppressed any violent reactions, seeing as such an action could ruin the quest somehow. Instead, she took a few calming breaths and simply sighed.

Was this a part of the quest? Did the MMO team really think that this was a good feature to implement? An old ghost that links to you forever? Forever listening to bad dad jokes – from other player's opinions – would have driven others to near insanity, or at least away from playing the game.

No matter how Illya looked at it, this was a bad decision.

"And you didn't think to ask permission beforehand?" Illya prompted.

"Of course not," he denied. "You might have said 'No'."

This little dad joke mother–

"I must say though… I am certainly surprised. You have a lot more hidden magical energy than I thought. Draining mana from you does not seem to weaken you whatsoever."

Illya found herself blinking once more.

 _What drain?_

Illya sent a glance to her character status bar, only to find absolutely no mana drain whatsoever. She wasn't feeling anything at all, actually… except for extreme irritation and annoyance at the specter.

What was this old goat talking about now?

"I certainly didn't expect this much mana…" Krentelfal muttered, quiet enough that Eisel couldn't hear. He wouldn't have heard anyway, seeing as he was far too busy feeding his horse with a look of bliss on his face–

"Why, it is almost as if I was tapping into an unlimited source of mana–"

 _What._

With grace and speed unbefitting of her, Illya bolted straight towards the ghost and wrap her fingers around his mouth. She sent Eisel a glance and

began walking away quietly and discreetly.

She wasn't going to be gone for a while, just for a minute or two… Until she could confirm what she had just heard.

Once they were behind a tree, out of Eisel's distracted point of view, Illya shoved the ghost onto the tree with a crazed look in her eyes.

"What. Did. You. Just. Say?"

Krentelfal didn't seem disturbed whatsoever and simply blinked at her.

"Pardon?"

"You said you were tapping into an unlimited source of mana," she said slowly. "Were. You. Lying?"

Another blink, "No, not at all. Why?"

Illya scanned his face, desperate to find any sign of deception. When she found none, there was only one conclusion she could draw.

There were only four sources of infinite mana that she was aware of, but only one that was possible…

If this ghost said he was drawing upon it, then could that mean that…

… No, it can't be. That was impossible. He should be draining mana, it had to be a glitch or something–

No… this world was as real as could be. The fact that he could tap into an 'unlimited source of mana', meant only one thing.

 _The third true magic, Heaven's Feel._

"I feel as if something is of the matter," he muttered, "Mayhaps you be trying to withhold some piece of forbidden knowledge?"

"That's one way to put it…" Illya found herself muttering, letting go of the knight after calming herself down. "Are you sure that you weren't mistaken?"

He nodded, "Positive."

"Absolutely sure?"

"I am currently trying to drain you dry of mana, yet my endeavors seem to be fruitless as of this moment," he said as his body began glowing, "Truly, this is a substantial amount of mana you have."

"I don't have that much mana," Illya denied, "I don't have access to it."

His brows narrowed, "I see… are you certain? Shall I see how far I can go?"

Illya contemplated the benefits of such an act… before remembering that her other guildmates had broken skills. If she had Heaven's Feel at her fingertips, then why was she not able to access it? Or rather, why didn't she even see it in her menu?

Did True Magic not count as a skill? If so, then how was it possible that it existed here, where skills were the explanation for every phenomenon created by adventurers?

Ugh… her headache was getting worse.

Screw it. If this was somehow going to unlock a broken skill for her, then why not?

It wasn't like there were any downsides.

… _right?_

"Very well then," Krentelfal agreed once he saw Illya nod. He closed his eyes and simply breathed.

It was then that Illya actually saw tendrils of mana draw out from her and towards the spirit. So much mana that it literally became visible. The ghost became less pale, skin returning to a peachy color and his beard shined a petulant silver.

… and Illya still didn't feel any drain.

"Okay, this clearly isn't working." Illya interrupted, "How about we go after those cultists before we try anything else?"

The ghost contemplated but gave a swift nod. "Agreed. Although, I haven't felt this great in years. Not even the fountain granted me this much mana."

… which told Illya that she now had a ghost that could probably one-shot even level-ninety tanks.

 _Wonderful._

She might like the ghost and his dad jokes, but having the slightest of chances that the story line might turn this ghost against them, who was now supercharged with mana, was a worrying thought. Especially since that such a plot point can definitely happen in MMO quest lines.

Hopefully, that supercharged with mana aspect of the ghost won't last long, she didn't want to even imagine if there was an entity in this world responsible for regulating them like Alaya or Gaia.

"Sorry for the wait, Eisel." Illya called, "Apparently, Krentelfal here is accompanying us."

Eisel stopped feeding his horse. He widened his eyes before grimacing swiftly after. "Really? Is this another escort mission?"

Illya shook her head, feeling her companion's disdain for the mission type. Nobody liked babysitting like that. "No, he'll just be watching _from a distance,_ " she emphasized, glaring at the ghost as she did so. "Anyway, less talking and more riding. I want these cultists gone before night falls."

Eisel looked like he had more he wanted to say, but he simply sighed and nodded. "Alright, come on Sapphire."

Did he name his horse?

Illya turned back to her horse… and he was still frozen like an idiot.

Was her horse defective or something?

"Suck it up."

"That was certainly rude."

This was going to be a long afternoon, Illya could just feel it.

* * *

After returning from her adventure with Nazuna and Soujiro, Sakura decided to return to the guild hall and clean up. She distinctly remembered that Rin was the last to leave their dorm so she probably left it in a state of disarray.

She wasn't the tidiest person in the household. She knew her way around chores but that didn't mean she liked it. Ever since Rin started living in the Emiya residence, that lethargic nature of hers only worsened.

It certainly didn't help that Shirou didn't mind cleaning up after her either.

Sakura sighed and walked past the large gate of the guild hall, noticing a lack of players around. Compared to a few days ago, it was almost like a ghost town.

It would probably be like that, seeing as adventurers were either at bars drinking away their despair, as Nazuna said, or outside in boredom, trying to kill time in some way or form.

Sakura couldn't really relate, seeing as she found ways to keep herself occupied quite easily via housework or simply sightseeing, but she supposed she could understand what the other players were going through.

She walked past the Landers by the guild counter, noticing how stoic and nonchalant they looked at the apparent lack of business. They didn't even seem to be bothered by standing upright with perfect posture and a dead fish gaze…

Were these actually Landers or some form of automated golem?

Sakura didn't really know, and since she had the time, she decided to check. She walked up to the counter and noticed that one of them snapped his head – or was it hers? – towards her and spoke.

"Good afternoon. Would you like to make a deposit?"

Sakura found herself blinking in minor surprise, before shaking her head.

"I see," he said, "When you wish to make an inquiry, please do so."

He certainly seemed a tad bit odd.

"Are you alright?" Sakura asked with a tilt of her head, "You seem… down?"

The Lander didn't really respond whatsoever, merely turning his head away and returning to gaze outward like a dead fish.

 _Alright…?_

Sakura was a little out of her depth here, so she decided to just leave things be. If these Landers didn't want to speak with her then she supposed that she could understand.

She needed to get back to cleaning their guild room anyway. No use crying over spilled milk after all.

When Sakura made her way to her guild room, she didn't need to bring out a key to unlock the door. It was very convenient that the door unlocked itself for members of its respective guild, it made breaking into guild rooms nigh-impossible.

Nigh-impossible, because Sakura was sure that either Illya or Rin would find a way to circumvent that system in the future.

Sakura turned the knob and entered the room only to find herself mildly surprised.

The bed folds were tucked in neatly, the blankets were tucked in smoothly, and even the table and chairs were set neatly to the side where it belonged.

It was like the room was… cleaned.

Sakura was sure that Rin wasn't the one who did this, but she was also the last person to have left… So what did this mean?

She didn't want to think that it was a thief, because no sane thief would bother to fix up the room into a new and unrecognizable state, as much as she hated to admit it.

That didn't stop Sakura to roam the room to see if anything was stolen, but the books that Rin had bought and the first sword that Shirou forged that leaned beside his bed remained.

She could also rule out adventurers because of the personalized guild room rules only allowed guild members in… so was it a Lander?

Maybe one of the people at reception would know? They were probably the right people to ask, or at least they seemed knowledgeable enough for that.

Sakura left the room in a mild haste.

 _Boing_

In that haste, she didn't notice herself bumping into someone.

"Are you alright? Like, are you hurt anywhere?" A concerned voice asked.

Sakura didn't recognize the voice but nodded once she managed to push herself off the floor.

"This is why you should always look where you're going, Marielle." An apologetic yet scolding voice soon followed.

Sakura took a few seconds to orient herself and take in the two new people in front of her. One of them was a female blond elf that wore a green blouse that hid her bountiful blessings, and the other was a female orange-haired human wearing a purple dress with glasses that sat on her visage.

Sakura bowed hastily in apology, "Sorry for bumping into you,"

"It's fine, it was my fault anyway." the elf said. "So… why are you in such a hurry?"

That last bit was said with a tilt of her head and a tone of innocent curiosity.

Sakura found it a tad hard to refuse giving an answer. A part of her said that these two might know the answer to her dilemma, a very compelling thought.

"Things in our guild room seem to have been moved… and oddly tidier," Sakura explained, "I wanted to check with the front desk and see if they knew anything."

"I wonder what could have– Tidier?" Marielle blinked and nodded with a look of understanding on her face, "Oh right… is this, like, your first time owning a guild hall?"

"It's more of a guild room and it's not really mine, but I suppose so," Sakura found herself saying.

"Don't worry, the Landers here come in every once in a while to clean them," the glasses-wearing human answered. "It's a benefit you have if you have a guild hall in the building as opposed to outside. Otherwise, you'd have to hire your own little helper."

The blond elf smiled a bit, "Everyone who makes a guild for the first time gets confused about finding the items in their chests sorted and all that. Don't worry, these Landers are super nice!"

All urgency left Sakura as she dimly nodded at the answers.

 _So it was just a cleaner?_

That was a relief, at least it wasn't booby trapped. If it was a regular occurrence then there was nothing to worry about.

"That's a relief…" Sakura muttered. "How often does this happen? Once every week or so?"

"Yeah, it's once every week or so," the elf answered, "So now that's out of the way, do you know anyone named [Illyasviel]?"

Urgency returned with vigor.

"I'm not doing anything mean!" The elf protested once she noticed Sakura's wariness, "My name is Marielle, my friend here is Henrietta. We met yesterday in the meeting among smaller guilds. I haven't seen 'The Emiya Family' before so I'm, like, curious about its members."

"Marielle," the human with glasses – Henrietta – scolded, "It is rude to pry."

"But I want to know~"

Once more, urgency faded… these two were very lively and Sakura found herself withholding a chuckle at the minor argument they had. "You two must be close friends."

"Yes, we're totally the best!" Marielle agreed cheerfully. "We've been playing together since, like, level ten!" Her eyes widened as she finally noticed something, "… Hang on, you're quite a low level aren't you? Have you been playing much?"

Sakura didn't really see the harm in answering. They seemed like an honest pair of people. She didn't feel any ill intent either so this person was probably just genuinely curious.

"I started playing only a few days ago."

"A few days–" her eyes widened, "Wait, you only started then!? You began, like, when the Apocalypse started!?"

Sakura blinked at the reaction and nodded.

"Calm down, Marielle," Henrietta said, although her hand seemed a bit shaky after pushing her slightly off-centered glasses back onto her face. "Was it scary for you? To wake up in a world that you have almost no clue about?"

Oh, they were worried. That was sweet of them.

"It was at first…" she admitted. "… but I had my family by my side to help me."

"The Emiya Family is more than just a name then," Henrietta concluded. "You are very lucky to have your 'family' as it were, by your side."

Sakura nodded.

If she had been in this world without Rin, Illya, or Shirou… then she would have despaired like the rest, perhaps even more so.

She couldn't imagine a world without them, or rather she didn't even want to try to do so.

"Hey hey~" Marielle called. "Do you want to come to our guild room? I want to totally know more about your guild! Woodstock-san has nothing but praises for Illyasviel so I, like, want to see if they're true. We also have yummy cookies!"

"Marielle, you sound like a predator like that," Henrietta scolded. "Also the cookies taste like wet biscuits."

"Hmm? Oh, you're right…"

Seeing the saddened look on the elf's face, Sakura could easily tell that Marielle held nothing but the purest of intentions.

Well, why not? She didn't have anything else to do at the present anyway.

"I don't see a problem with that, Marielle-san. Henrietta-san."

Sakura could see Illya complaining about her choice, citing the danger of entering a stranger's guild room was just asking for trouble. Even Shirou would probably disagree just based on the ambiguity of the danger.

However, Sakura trusted the impression she built of these people, as naive as that sounded.

Besides, it would be rude to decline.

She would decline the cookies though, no question on that.

* * *

Shirou put his hammer away and grabbed the final finished iron sword. All he had to do now was grind it until it was sharpened and he'd be finished.

Halfas had been dragged away by Meltraus and both had disappeared. Melhia said that it was a common occurrence so he shouldn't be worried. The elf would turn up again sooner or later.

"Boy," Meltraus called. "Go with Melhia and meet our suppliers. We're low on ingots. I'll handle grinding your blade."

Shirou nodded as he set the blade aside, "Understood."

Meltraus admittedly seemed to have an uncertain frown at his blunt acceptance, grumbling at nothing when he grabbed the blade and began sharpening it.

Melhia only giggled at her father and walked out, prompting Shirou to follow.

"Ignore papa," she said. "He gets like that sometimes."

"I see…" Shirou muttered. "Do you know why he told us to meet with the suppliers?"

"Well…" Melhia started. "He usually sends me alone, but I guess he wants you to get to know the local supplier better. Keeping a good supplier relationship is what keeps most forges afloat. If your supplier doesn't like you, then it'll be hard to get ingots or equipment."

"That makes sense."

"In our case, there's really only three suppliers in this city." Melhia added, "There's Drudgel up north who supplies everything at a fair price, no exceptions. Edgar down south who sells to adventurer smiths primarily, and finally we have Tomtom between them. He's our supplier."

"Is there anything notable about him?"

"He sells everything he can at a fair price, but he gives discounts to people who he likes," Melhia answered. "He likes papa a lot, something about a debt being repaid, so we usually get a thirty percent discount from all purchases we make from him."

 _Thirty percent?_

"That's quite a lot. Is his business okay?" Shirou asked in concern. "I can't imagine it being profitable if you sell at a discount every time."

"There's only a handful of people who get his discounts," Melhia amended. "So the financial drain isn't that high, enough to keep his business afloat. Blacksmiths in this district try to butter him up for a discount anyway. Knowing the guy, he probably likes that treatment."

The more Shirou learned about this Tomtom, the less he felt sure about him.

It didn't take long before Shirou found himself walking alongside Melhia deeper into the marketing district. The further they went, the more back alleys and Landers there were.

A majority of the shops and stalls that had items tailored for players were at the rim of the marketplace. There were less players and fewer player-tailored equipment the deeper you went.

Once they reached the center of the marketing district, the heart of the district, there were no more players around. Only Landers made appearances, purchasing wares that players found admittedly useless.

It was also here that he dragged attention to himself as the sole adventurer in a district where only Landers appeared.

 _Terrific._

Shirou decided to hang back and let Melhia lead the way. She didn't stop at any of the smaller stalls but instead walked straight up to a rather large one.

It had bags surrounding it, filled to the brim with items, antiquities, and, most importantly, ingots and raw ore. They weren't left unprotected either. In a display of wealth, there were Lander bodyguards situated around the stall, prepared to catch any would-be thief.

 _This must be Tomtom's place._

Melhia simply waved at the bodyguards who let her pass. Shirou followed suit only when Melhia told him to follow. He didn't want to antagonize any of these bodyguards and start an incident.

Meltraus would probably kill him if he did.

Not that he could, but it was the sentiment that counted.

"Tomtom?" Melhia called out. "I'm here for papa's orders!"

There was shuffling at the back of the large stall with a few things falling over as a lithe figure shambled out, looking a bit embarrassed at the overall state of his stall.

He was dressed in the stereotypical outfit that most renaissance merchants had. A fluffy hat with a feather sticking out of it and simple drapes on his body, but lined with golden fabric to give off a wealthy appearance.

It was a stark contrast to the nervous expression he seemed to have.

"Melhia, that's you right?" He asked as he shuffled towards them, trying his best not to step on any of his wares. It was a hard task when you considered the fact that his pants got in the way, making it messier than before. "Sorry, I was cleaning my stall… but it's gotten a tad messier than when I started."

Melhia could only sigh as she stepped into the stall, "Alright then, let me help you out, as usual."

Tomtom just nodded, feeling all the more embarrassed, "I'll give you and your father a bigger discount to compensate... sorry."

"Keep it at thirty percent Tomtom or I'm walking out of here."

"Do you want me to help out?"

Tomtom's eyes narrowed down on him like a hawk. His demeanor shifted as he gazed away from Melhia to Shirou with a guarded look. The bodyguards outside shifted and held their weapons tighter.

 _Interesting..._

Melhia didn't seem to notice and simply nodded, "Sure. You can put the books back on the shelves."

Shirou simply nodded and grabbed some fallen over books and placed them on a nearby shelf, ordering it alphabetically.

"Erm..." Tomtom muttered as he stared down Shirou. "Who is this fellow?"

"He's papa's new apprentice," Melhia answered as she pushed a box aside. "Papa saw some potential in him and decided to take him in."

"... But isn't he an adventurer?" He asked, a hint of worry lacing his tone. "Doesn't Meltraus-san hate them?"

"Shirou-san doesn't use that adventurer smithing magic at all. He uses regular methods, and he's pretty good at it."

"I-I see..."

Shirou could tell that he was still unsure about that claim due to the wary looks he was receiving from the Lander. Perhaps he didn't have many interactions with players due to where his stall was located and was simply nervous?

Meltraus did say that he should build a relationship with the supplier.

"My name is Emiya Shirou," He introduced to lessen the tension between them. "If you have any questions about me, just ask."

"R-Right, I'll be sure to do so."

Judging from how he shifted away, he was definitely trying to avoid talking with Shirou, leaning towards a far more comforting and familiar presence.

Perhaps he was nervous to new people in general? The way that Melhia was talking to him indicated that they knew each other for a long while now, perhaps childhood friends?

Although Shirou could tell from the first second that the Lander noticed him, he narrowed his eyes like a hawk. Nervous people don't make a successful business, so either this was his genuine self or a front he puts on.

"Alright, done," Melhia said. "How's your end, Shirou-san?"

"The books are sorted alphabetically, no issue here," Shirou answered.

"Great," Melhia muttered before turning to Tomtom. "Alright Tomtom, which bag out front is ours?"

"I-It's in the usual spot, between Halfas' and Kazhak's bag," he said. "You can pay later if you want! I can always wait!"

"We can pay now," Melhia said as she tossed a bag of coins into his hands. "Shirou-san, can you carry the bag?"

Shirou nodded, but not before gazing towards Tomtom one last time, receiving a stern stare in return.

It was almost as if he was being protective of something...

Shirou grabbed the bag and followed Melhia out, all the while keeping the ire of the local supplier. The last sight he had of Tomtom was of him talking to his bodyguards.

Something told Shirou that his relationship with the merchant was going to be... strained, to say the least.

He didn't even know what he did wrong that could have offended the merchant. Melhia seemed clueless too based on how she acted as if nothing was wrong.

Maybe Sakura would know what was going on, she understood people far better than he did.

It didn't take long before they arrived back at the stall, but based on the setting sun, Shirou had to leave soon. He set the bag down beside the entrance of the forge and turned to Meltraus.

"It's getting late, can I head back?" Shirou asked.

Meltraus, who had been sharpening an axe, gazed outside a window and nodded. "I suppose it's getting a little late... Melhia, quell the forge. You can go home now, boy."

Shirou nodded and took his leave, noticing how Melhia grabbed a tong and simply crushed the remains of the flame stone, which caused the remaining embers of the forge to fade away.

Could they not have simply taken it out and put it to use at a later date?

Perhaps they could but it would be too troublesome. He wasn't about to question the livelihood of most of the smiths in the city.

 _I wonder how everyone else is doing?_

* * *

 _Well, that was a thing._

Rin rubbed her shoulder and returned to working on the paper, her mana having run low from continuous spellcasting.

The simultaneous modular spellcasting theory had some ground and plausibility, which seemingly stunned Ferlna for some reason. All one had to do was forgo the chant and focus on two things.

Although, Rin could see how it was 'impossible' by an idiot's standards. They didn't refine the process of spellcasting at all so everything was harder if you wanted to make something advanced. It was easier to simply invoke a Fire Ball and Wind Bullet at once if you were used to modularly augmenting the spells for maximum efficiency, ignoring the idea of forcing the spell into actuality like a barbarian.

See? Simple.

When Ferlna tried it, she admittedly had some difficulty at first, but she did manage to create a small burst of wind and fire simultaneously, which made the Lander's eyes light up in clear yet subdued excitement… for some reason…

Sometimes, Rin didn't understand Landers.

Although she could definitely understand the position they were in when this 'May Incident' occurred. Rin truly could.

From the perspective of an ordinary Lander, who lived alongside adventurers and were used to their presence, such a shift in behavior was a true cause for concern. Especially if that shift affected an entire race of people.

It was concerning to know that Landers considered Adventurers to be an entirely different race of people, but not as concerning as appearing in a whole new world.

There was some room for relation, but not very much. Just enough for understanding.

"Ferlna?" Rin called out to the backroom from her seat. "Are you done in there?"

The sound of fire and water crashing onto the wall told Rin otherwise.

 _Oh well, extra research data was always a benefit._

Rin turned back to the research paper and labeled simultaneous modular spellcasting as possible, but it would require a load of tweaking. Perhaps holding onto a spell before casting it and casting another was an option? You could keep a Fire Ball at your fingertips for quite a while so it should be possible.

When the store bell rang, Rin didn't even look up from her work. It was probably another Lander or something.

That was disproved the moment footsteps halted before her station. The sound of the counter bell ringing told Rin as much as she needed.

 _A customer then._

"Ferlna?" Rin called, once again not looking up from her research. "You have a customer!"

"Excuse me, but are you a fellow player?"

"Yes, I am," she answered, flicking through her research. "If you wait for a few moments then the owner should be here any moment."

"… You are close to this NPC then?"

"They find it offensive if you call them an NPC," Rin informed. "Make sure to refer to them as Landers. It's like calling a black man the n-word."

She could tell that this person had a frown on his face. "I'll… be sure to remember that."

It didn't take long before Ferlna left the backroom, adopting a professional expression as she faced the customer. "Yes? What is it that you wish to purchase, adventurer?"

"A bundle of Philliac vials and of exceptional quality if possible," he said.

Rin had no idea what those were, but she'd ask Illya later.

Ferlna nodded and went out back to retrieve them, leaving Rin and the adventurer alone once more.

The silence between them was… unnerving, just ever so slightly. Like the awkward air between classmates on the first day. You hold no ill will but at the same time, you don't feel the need to socialize.

"I suppose you're curious as to why I want to purchase them?" The adventurer said, trying to strike up a conversation.

"No, not really," Rin said, turning back to an empty page to fill out her hypothesis on a new method of simultaneous spellcasting.

The adventurer hummed to himself, not really enjoying the socialization

effort that Rin was giving, or lack thereof. "I'm curious, you are a part of the Emiya Family, the guild led by Illyasviel, are you not?"

Rin's quill ceased its movement.

"That brought out a reaction, didn't it?" He said with a hint of caution. Good, he wasn't looking for a fight then. "We met at a meeting yesterday, I trust that you are aware of that?"

"... Yes, she might have mentioned it…" Rin muttered.

That being said, she was still very cautious of the adventurer. She didn't set her quill aside but offered a single cursory glance. He was short, only just taller than Illya's younger and original form by a margin, yet he had a strong jaw only emphasized by the steam-punk inspired monocle on his face.

"... I don't think she mentioned who you were though," Rin added neutrally, concealing any trace of emotions she held. Her father's and guardian's political training returning to her aid.

"My name is Ichimonjinosuke Akenya."

"Tohsaka."

Rin didn't bother with pleasantries and only offered the username that Illya provided her character, that should be good enough for this man.

Ichimonjinosuke hummed to himself. "Your guild leader off-handedly mentioned that the rest of her guild members were relatively low level. Is that not dangerous for you? Why not join a bigger guild for protection?"

He was probing for something but Rin didn't know what it was yet. She had to keep her cards hidden, as it were.

"We're not fans of strangers, Ichimonjinosuke-san," Rin said. "We're a rather tightly-knit group."

"Solidarity and cooperation is a good thing to foster," he said with approval. "Are you sure that your guild is not in need of any aid?"

He tried starting a conversation and only succeeded in doing so by mentioning her guild. He introduced himself and held himself in a manner that wasn't antagonizing but not welcoming either. Only to offer aid at the very latest.

He wanted to make a connection, but was wary in establishing one, almost as if he distrusted her… or rather, not her specifically but her guild.

Where could animosity against her guild be generated? The first answer to come to mind was the meeting between small guilds yesterday in which Illya–

Illya.

 _Midget, what in the name of the Root did you do in that meeting?_

"Has my guild master displeased you in some way?" Rin tested her hypothesis. "If so, then I apologize on our guild's behalf."

He snorted. "We had a disagreement, nothing more or less. I had meant to offer help towards your guild sometime after the meeting, but your guild master left earlier than I anticipated."

"I see…" Rin muttered. "I'll have to discuss with my other guild members before we can decide."

She was still going to be cautious though.

Ferlna returned not long after with a bag. Within, was a couple of red vials with green goo inside of them. Some of the goo glowed brightly while the rest didn't.

"There are ten vials here, five of which are exceptional," Ferlna informed. "Unfortunately, my supplier has not been able to obtain much of them. That'll be two hundred gold."

Ichimonjinosuke didn't hesitate to put out the funds.

Not even bartering? Rin would have thought that he'd at least try to bargain for a lower price… unless you couldn't and that was something exclusive to their old world… or some other classes that might have a focus on trading.

Game logic didn't make sense to her.

Ichimonjinosuke grabbed the vials, whose purpose eluded her, and placed them into his pouch. It was similar to Illya's, probably housing its own hammerspace or pocket dimension to contain everything he owns.

Rin wanted one, if only because she could test the limits of what it could do.

"Well then," Ichimonjinosuke started as he left. "I sent you a friend request so you can contact me at any time. I bid you farewell."

Rin noticed that when he left, he didn't say farewell to them both, treating Ferlna as if she didn't exist.

It seems that players, even the ones that were helping each other, still didn't recognize Landers as living beings. Unfortunate.

"It is getting rather late," Ferlna stated as she gazed outside. "Perhaps it is best that you head back before night falls?"

"Right," Rin said as she stood, stretching her body due to how long she sat. "Can I leave everything here to you? I'll be back tomorrow to help out."

"That is acceptable," Ferlna said. "Have a pleasant journey back home, Magi Tohsaka."

"Just call me Rin."

"As you wish, Magi Tohsaka."

Rin sighed.

* * *

 _I'm glad that I stocked up on potions._

Currently, the trio of Illya, Eisel, and Krentelfal, were crouched behind a tree as they stared at a cave, a cultist or two walking out to keep guard while a single torch lit up the cave from behind them.

There were spikes with animal skulls perched atop, still dripping with blood alongside the stains that came from beheading such animals.

It was intimidating, but not so much as a basement filled with failed homunculi.

Compared to that? This seemed pretty tame.

Eisel didn't agree and seemed to shiver at the thought of going in, probably used to seeing such things in the form of digital shapes and textures.

"This wasn't here in the game before… Damn, it looks scary," Eisel muttered with trepidation. "Is that the lair?"

Krentelfal nodded as he stood beside them.

Yes, stood. The old ghost had drained so much mana from Illya's apparently unlimited source of mana that he gained legs back, which meant he could probably fight better now that he could find stable footing.

"Yes, that is indeed their lair," Krentelfal confirmed. "It would be troublesome if they noticed us, so let us–"

Illya wasn't really the cautious type. Her class wasn't good at that either with the amount of armor she had, granted it was lessened due to the female armor stereotype.

Her play style as a Guardian was far less cautious, and she was getting bored.

So she equipped her axe and triggered a skill.

A simple **Slam**.

Illya's lithe body lurched and launched itself into the air, Golden Rhapsody held above her head as she descended atop one of the cultists.

It didn't take long before she fell, slamming the axe and splitting the cultist, who was level forty, in two.

They didn't explode into EXP like normal animals would, but instead burst into a spray of blood. There were drops too, but Illya didn't bother looking at them.

Was there a difference between humanoid mobs and monsters like slimes and wolves? There probably was.

Too bad that Illya had a headache and didn't care in the slightest.

While the cultist died in one hit, a combination of a critical hit and the Slam damage being boosted with a two-handed weapon, Illya swung at the other cultist, who was too stunned at the sudden attack to do anything.

He was bisected too, horizontally instead of vertically like the previous one.

When Illya finished the action, she awaited for any extra cultists to make an appearance. When none showed, she hefted her axe onto her shoulder with a sigh.

"Well, that was disappointing."

Eisel crawled out from under the bushes with both of his eyes wide. "Is that blood? That's blood, right? How in the world is there blood here!?"

"Bleeding is common for living beings, is it not?"

Eisel chose to ignore Krentelfal and focused on the corpses.

They exploded into EXP orbs moments later, drifting towards Illya and Eisel due to their party status.

"Is there another exit in their lair?" Illya asked. "Most dungeons and keeps usually have two or more entrances."

Krentelfal shrugged, "There might be one on the other side of the hill."

"Eisel," Illya ordered. "Can you make sure none of them run away while me and the old ghost charge in?"

Eisel looked at the bloodstained dirt and stone.

He didn't hesitate to walk towards his horse and circle around the hill.

"Is he weak to blood?" Krentelfal asked with curiosity. "Most warriors back in my day barely flinch at the sight of it."

"He's had a more… normal, upbringing," Illya chose to say.

Illya was raised among heartless magi, so she was used to the sight. Eisel was an average sewing otaku who probably hadn't seen that much blood other than the times when he pricked his finger sewing.

"Come on, these are recent sentries so the rest of the cultists won't expect an attack within the next few minutes."

Krentelfal nodded, "I will most likely be at a disadvantage, so would it be plausible for me to wait outside for stragglers?"

Add that with the fact that they might also have a way to capture him again? Illya could see where he was coming from.

That didn't stop Illya from sending him a look. "You'd leave a lady to fight for her life with a bunch of cultists, who are probably virgin and hormone-addled?"

"A warrior is a warrior, regardless of gender."

 _Eh, good enough for me._

"You going to be alright without me to supply you mana or something?" Illya asked. At this point, she was far too accepting of these things. She wanted to let loose all her fatigue, annoyance, and frustrations, preferably on the cultists, as lethally as possible.

She just really wanted to gut something.

"I've stocked up on enough mana to last a day or so," he admitted. "You can take as much time as you want."

 _Terrific._

Illya wasn't worried about handling a dungeon alone, she preferred to play solo anyway so she'd be fine.

It was a small mercy that Illya chose to let him deal with stragglers who'll try to escape from the second exit.

 _Because there wouldn't be any stragglers._

Illya charged herself up with **Fortification** , to raise her defense, and **Bulwark** , to increase her damage, for about a minute or so.

Illya charged in and raised her axe, casting a quick **Cross Slash** and bisecting the cultist.

It appeared that the majority of them had been getting ready to rest, but the cry of pain from the other now-deceased cultists, roused them from their sleeping bags in a panic. They struggled to get up and grab weapons to defend themselves.

It wouldn't work.

Illya raised Golden Rhapsody… and _threw_ it.

The axe spun in the air as it arced towards a cultist, cutting through him.

A few cultists took the chance to attack her while she was unarmed, but that was a mistake. In the game, she would usually run towards her axe and lessen the time it takes to grab it back.

Here? Where the game obeyed some real-world physics, as shown by her game-breaking guildmates?

She couldn't care less.

She reinforced her gauntlets and simply punched.

The resulting explosion of gore was cathartic as her fist caved through his abdomen. She leaped forward and kicked a cultist who tried shooting a crossbow at her.

Golden Rhapsody returned as her arm moved to catch it automatically.

Illya finally decided to survey her surroundings with the small amount of time that was given to her. She seemed to be in a hall of stone, animal blood painting the walls in the form of symbols in an unnerving fashion, for Eisel.

Illya was fine with it though.

Two cultists launched simple Fire Balls her way, which she charged through. One of them was negated from the automatic use of her passive **Iron Bounce** , which mitigated the damage by letting it hit her armor, and the other was swatted aside by her axe.

She took a bit of damage so she wanted to replenish.

 _Thank you for being blood bags!_

" **Scarlet Thrust.** "

Her axe shimmered in a coat of red aura as it gutted one cultist. The other cultist beside him was about to try his luck at melee, but it proved futile as Illya simply swung her axe again and killed him.

 _Wow, those last two mages were weak._

She didn't even use a skill that time.

A simple glance back at her health brought a smile of satisfaction to her face.

Scarlet Thrust didn't really have a long cooldown, a ten-second one was considered to be short. However, it restored HP depending on damage dealt. With the health stealing boost from her amulet and axe, she was able to use it reliably every ten seconds to keep her health to a manageable level.

Ah… breaking the game through the usual game mechanics.

She wasn't going to take credit for the idea though, Krusty from DDD got the credit for that. Illya was just trying to copy him.

Copying like her wonderful elder brother~

Strangely, all players who use the 'Scarlet Knight' build seemed to be a tad bit insane during battles.

Illya pushed forward out of the hallway and found herself in a ritual room with stone pillars surrounding it, similar in make to Greek obelisks. There was a large pit of murky blood and gore, some body parts floating on it like bits in soup.

The funny thing was, that this would've looked alright in the low-resolution textures of a standard MMO.

Glad that Eisel wasn't here. He would've lost his lunch.

Oh yeah, upon the ledges where she couldn't reach were several cultists aiming their spells at her.

Normally, she wouldn't be able to avoid all those spells in a usual game setting. She would have died and come back with a party well equipped to prepare for it.

Not a game anymore though.

Illya simply bolted to the side and took cover. Following game logic, her armor wasn't even slowing her down like it would in real life, which was a pleasant surprise to abuse.

Spells impacted the stone obelisk as Illya counted the cultists above and around her. There were around ten on the ledges, but none on the side she was taking cover from, eliminating the chance of being flanked.

She didn't really have long ranged attacks other than her axe throw, but luckily, she had other options.

Shirou had his tracing as a skill tree but it was specialized and tailored for him. Rin could create a Gandr despite the fact that there wasn't a skill tree that accompanied it, but her spells could be used by others unlike Shirou's.

Since Shirou's was solely unique to him, he gained a skill tree for it. Rin's wasn't, so she didn't.

What did this mean for Illya?

 _Engel Note: Angel's Poem._

As Illya saw that she lost some mana, strands of her hair lengthened and curled in on itself, forming four blindingly white constructs with the form of birds– Storch Ritters.

It meant that she could use her own magecraft too.

It didn't look like there was any drain on her mana, which was good. She could hold four of them without issue in the real world so if she struggled to maintain them here, she would've been pissed.

She smirked at the looks of confusion on the cultists.

She shouted in childish glee.

"Fire!"

Her Storch Ritters listened. They formed into Zelle and littered the cultists above with blasts of prana.

Each hit took out a third of their health, which was good damage all things considered. It didn't take long before the cultists above died, some of them even falling off the ledge and breaking their neck on the fall.

Illya was certain that there was still more of them, so she didn't dispel her familiars and decided to walk towards one of the doors on the side.

There was a label on it that said 'Ritual Room'. From the murmuring she heard behind it, the cultists were preparing for her.

 _Convenient._

She allowed her familiars to slip in between the cracks of the door and reform on the other side.

The following screams and cries were soothing to Illya's headache.

She opened the door herself and strutted in, finding the whole room, which looked like a throne room, covered in dead bodies.

There was a pair of gauntlets surrounded by candles, probably the piece of Tulius' armor set to be used to revive Belaphr, so Illya grabbed them and shoved them into her pouch.

She heard whimpering as one of her familiars formed into Degen, a dagger-like form that can pierce even the best defenses magi can conjure, and held itself directly in front of the cultist's neck.

Illya sent her other familiars outside to keep watch but kept one beside her just in case.

"Hello~," Illya said, taking the tone she first used on her beloved elder brother in the first days of the war. "You really shouldn't have destroyed that fountain. Now I have a nuisance always following me around."

"H-How did you manage to find us!? It should have at least taken three days until someone could crack that crystal!" He cried out. "By that time we would have Belaphr-sama reborn and grant us power! Damn it!"

… _Ah, cringe-worthy MMO dialogue, how I despise you._

There was probably some way or indicator that told regular players how to break the crystal trapping Krentelfal. This also meant that he should've died and faded into oblivion.

Fortunately, she was a Magus. This meant that she bypassed some quest to get rid of the crystal. Unfortunately, she was a Magus. This meant that Krentelfal was stuck with her for an untold amount of time.

 _Frustrating._

At least she liked the old codger. If it was an old harpy that constantly cawed about killing Emiya's spawn– oh wait, that was Jubstacheit.

Great… her headache got worse.

"So you were going to summon Belaphr before we got to you," Illya mused. "Good plan. Unfortunately, it was easy enough for me to get past."

She liked the look of fear he had from her gloating.

"Is this the only piece of Tulius' armor you have?" Illya asked. "Tell me the truth and I'll let you live~"

His eyes widened in hope.

"R-Really?" He muttered, to which Illya nodded. "… No, it isn't the only one we have. There are other pieces in other lairs, we have a map in the living quarters!"

She passed that room when she killed everyone there, didn't she?

Illya nodded at the information, "Thank you for your cooperation."

Degen formed back into a bird and flew beside Illya. "You may go."

His eyes opened and a smile broke out on his face as he ran outside.

Her other two familiars gunned the idiot down painlessly.

Mercy didn't suit her.

She opened up her menu as soon as the last body turned into experience orbs, sending Eisel a quick message that the coast was clear and he could come in.

Just because she needed it, Illya went back and grabbed the gold bags that the cultists dropped.

Also, she sealed the pit of blood and gore with a giant slab of rock she found, just in case Eisel got a bit too queasy.

Eisel made his way down and came in from one of the side doors. Krentelfal came from where she had entered with an appraising gaze. "Well, that didn't take long."

"Remind me why I'm here again?" Eisel muttered. "I feel like you could have done this quest line yourself."

"There are always boss monsters that you'll be useful against, Eisel," Illya said.

"I guess so…" He muttered as he took in the room. "That ledge looks like enemies would have been there, how did you take them out?"

Illya shrugged. "Who knows, maybe I threw my axe at them?"

"Haha, very funny," Eisel said. "Did we beat the quest? Or are there still people we need to beat?"

"There are more lairs that have his armor pieces, so we'll have to travel to each and deal with the cultists there," Illya answered. "The deadline is three days, otherwise they'll revive him."

Krentelfal frowned, "We cannot afford to waste any time then. First thing in the morning we set out… do we know where their other lairs are?"

"They have a map in the living quarters," Illya said. "You passed it along your way here."

"Hmm… then while you two get ready to rest, I shall search for the map."

Illya had no complaints and stretched her body. "Get the sleeping bags ready Eisel. We have a long night here."

"We're sleeping in this place, aren't we?"

"There'll be no monsters here that can sneak up on us so keeping watch is pointless," Illya added. "We'll be able to get more rest here."

Eisel simply nodded and set a sleeping bag…

… On top of the thick slab of rock that covered the pool of gore.

Illya shrugged.

 _Ignorance is bliss, as they say._

* * *

Sakura waved Henrietta and Marielle a farewell and made her way back to the guild room.

They chatted with each other, which was very pleasant. Marielle was without a doubt, a kind-hearted individual. Henrietta was the same but she was more respectful of Sakura's personal space.

She didn't know what it was like to be smothered in mammaries before today. She could now relate to Illya.

When Sakura reached the guild room, she found that Rin and Shirou were already inside. Shirou was laying on his bed while Rin was reading a book about history.

After Sakura took a seat, they told each other of what they've been doing. Shirou forging, Rin researching, and herself exploring.

They had an eventful day, but the empty bed beside them reminded them of who was missing.

"Any word from the midget?" Rin asked.

"She sent me a message," Shirou replied. "She's camping out with two others in a lair. She cleared out all the enemies inside and made it habitable for the night."

"Two others? Didn't she only leave with one other?" Sakura asked, her brow creasing in concern.

"She says that an NPC ghost is following along," he answered.

"A ghost…?" Rin muttered. "There are such things in this world? Interesting…"

"No experimenting on beings of the afterlife, Nee-san."

"It was just a thought," Rin grumbled.

"In any case," Shirou said. "Illya won't be back for a few days. She said to prepare for a few days of grinding when she gets back."

"Fine with me," Rin said. "I want to be able to gain a few more levels. The more access to spells I have, the better."

"What did Illya say about my subclass?" Sakura asked.

Shirou checked his menu and replied. "She's okay with the apprentice subclass. She says to raise it by doing random things like writing, smithing, cleaning… Actually, anything you do can raise that subclass."

"Convenient," Rin muttered. "You'll have a wide selection to choose from later, Sakura."

"All in all," Shirou concluded. "We've had a productive day. That's good."

"... Too bad that the food still tastes like shit though," Rin muttered.

The trio collectively winced.

"... Maybe the Landers have a way to circumvent it?" Sakura suggested. "I can check with a few taverns tomorrow and see what they do for food."

Shirou nodded. "I'll check with Melhia then. Meltraus doesn't strike me as the type to cook."

"Then I'll see if Ferlna knows anything," Rin mused. "… But more importantly, we should be sleeping. There's a lot to do tomorrow."

"I guess you're right," Shirou said. "I need to be up early otherwise Meltraus will be mad."

"Illya will be alright where she is, right?" Sakura muttered.

"Based on what she's telling me," Shirou said as he read the paragraph-long message. "She'll be fine. The ghost NPC can't sleep anyway so he should be keeping watch."

"What if the other player does something to Illya?" Sakura worriedly asked.

"If some run-of-the-mill player gets the drop on the midget and does something like that, then I'll eat my shoes," Rin claimed. "Don't worry. The midget should be fine, she's a pretty high level, right?" Rin's eyes drifted away. "More importantly… Illya isn't here right now."

"I believe that was already established, Rin," Shirou muttered in faint amusement.

"Which means that no one will be able to interrupt us."

Shirou squinted as he attempted to figure out what Rin was going on about.

"We can finally check his 'third leg' now, right Sakura?"

Oh dear.

Shirou gazed at the younger sister but admittedly felt himself shiver once he noticed that she wasn't denying it.

 _Oh dear._

"Can we save this for a later date?" Shirou tried to compromise. "I have to wake up early and–"

"No complaints! Get him, Sakura!"

"Wait, wait!"

"Sorry, but I'm also a bit curious."

From the halls of the guild, not a single sound could be heard throughout the night.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **LATE! LATE! LATE!** **BURN THE HERETIC!**

 **In all seriousness, I'm sorry this had to come out so late. A combination of both college deadlines, exams, and some mild sickness pushed this chapter to this state. It's longer than previous chapters though, so I hope that appeases the annoyance that must've been had during the wait.**

 **Mr. Beta did some good work here in making sure that I don't flub on the story here, which is pretty much made on the fly. Completely different to how I handle my other story, which means retcons might be a thing to keep an eye out for. All for the sake of a better story I suppose.**

 **The FGO Accel Order rerun event is here, good for you guys who want your King or Saber Diarmuid. I knew a guy who waited two years for this rerun, so he's happy that he got him. I'm keeping my quartz for my precious Ereshkigal so you won't see me rolling any time soon... unless that 'soon' is the next event or summon banner with Ereshkigal.**

 **Double Credit weekend in Warframe too, so now I'm farming both the FGO event, (re)writing my other story's chapter, some college work, exam studying, alongside the Warframe farming.**

 **I'm killing myself, aren't I?**

 **Not much else to say other than sorry for the wait. Please point out any grammatical errors I missed or something, those are always appreciated, especially if these errors could end up breaking some world rules.**

 **Kappa.**

 **A/N 2: Minor edits.**

* * *

Illya widened her eyes from her sleeping bag and surveyed her surroundings in confusion.

Krentelfal noticed her awakening and raised a brow. "Is something the matter?"

"My Onii-chan senses are tingling…"

"… Pardon?"


	7. Chapter 7: Culminations

**Chapter 7**

 **Beta: Worldbringer of Joseun**

* * *

"It is time to awaken, young adventurers."

Illya's eyes snapped open and were met with a peculiar sight. Krentelfal was hovering above them, holding a detailed map in a somewhat lazy fashion. He looked as old as ever but there was a glistening sheen to his beard.

Great, he took mana as she slept.

Someday, Illya would learn how to tap into that reservoir of mana… But not today, though.

Shrugging off the annoyance she felt, Illya stretched. She felt a bone pop as she did so. Illya didn't really get a good nights sleep. Some part of her kept her awake yet she couldn't figure out the reason why.

Illya turned to Eisel, who had just woken up and crawled out of his sleeping back. He wasn't really lethargic, more annoyed if anything.

 _Lucky him._

"So…" Eisel started as he walked towards Krentelfal, ignorant of Illya's lethargy. He dragged the floating ghost down a bit to peer at the map. "Which coven do we take on first?"

"The one in Muriel Valley," Illya answered. Luckily for Eisel, Krentelfal pointed at the valley north to their location. "It's the closest right now and once we reach there, it'll just be a few kilometers from there to reach the others."

As she said this, she sneaked over behind Eisel and pushed the slab that he slept on just a bit more. A few limbs had been sticking out and Illya didn't want to deal with any reaction his stomach might have right now.

"Alright, let us set forth," Krentelfal stated. "We do not have the time to waste."

Krentelfal drifted away to the exit with Illya and Eisel following a few meters behind.

"He's sort of different to how he was before, don't you think?" Eisel asked.

"I don't really see it."

"Well for one, he hasn't made a terrible joke at all," Eisel reminded.

Oh, that was right, Krentelfal always made those jokes. It was a shame that Illya didn't really hear any from him yet, they could've made her day much more amusing.

"Maybe he's stressed?" Illya tried, wondering to herself if a ghost could get stressed. "Once this is all over, he'll probably be fine enough to make jokes."

Eisel made an odd expression at that.

 _Speaking of odd…_

Illya stepped out into the clearing and blew on her whistle, knowing that it would take a while before her horse appeared. Eisel did the same, which was how Illya was able to look through her inventory without him noticing.

She didn't really need to be secretive, but a part of her just didn't like sharing unless it was with her family.

She had Tulius' Gauntlets. Upon scanning the item's information, she learned that she couldn't even equip it unless she was level 90, which was a bummer. It gave the wearer a grand boost in attack power, an almost twenty percent increase which is a lot. On top of that, there was a whole set bonus of tripled health regeneration, only if she had the full set.

It was a shame that there was a chance that she couldn't keep it. Krentelfal might take the armor pieces back once the whole quest line was over. It wasn't like the old immortal needed to stay with her at all. He probably had enough mana to last a lifetime.

She still thought it was unfair that she couldn't access it at all. Like seriously, her family was going to be broken once they reached a suitable level but here she was as a plain old Guardian.

Granted Illya had her Engel Note spell, but she still wanted something more to 'even' the playing field as it were. She had no doubt that Shirou and Rin were going to spiral into some monstrous behemoth of power and influence respectively. Sakura could probably catch up if her Foxtail racial traits didn't get in the way.

Her horse appeared from the foggy mist alongside Eisel's mare. Illya noted that her horse was the exact same as before. In the game, the horse's color and height varied each time. So was the whistle only capable of grabbing one singular horse?

It probably was the case, seeing as this horse froze in terror at the sight of the old ghost.

 _Ah well, you win some, you lose some._

Illya got on and sighed. "Follow me, neither of you knows the way."

"I can read a map just fine, you know?" Eisel argued.

Illya turned to face him. She grabbed the map in his hands and turned it right side up. He blinked at it for a few seconds before realizing what had happened.

"Ah…" Eisel muttered, only now just realizing that the game's mini-map and a real-life map differed in several ways. "… We can ignore that happened, right?"

Illya wore a smug smile on her face.

"No~"

Eisel seemed to pout, which Illya found funny. She found it funnier after he overtook her and traveled ahead of her, even though their horses had the same speed.

It was fine, Illya would call if he was going the wrong way, which was hopefully not going to occur even once because they were going down a straight path.

"It is intriguing to me though," Krentelfal called out to her, hovering beside her horse in a standing position.

Ah, so that was how Eisel's horse was able to overtake her, Illya's horse was stiffly trying to gallop along despite the fear it seemed to have. Dumb horse.

"I had thought that adventurers of the Guardian class could not use spells like that. Very intriguing indeed…"

… and just like that, Illya's mood soured.

"You saw?" Illya asked, not going to even put on a poker face. This NPC was thousands of years old, so he had probably learned how to see through facades anyway. "I'll have to ask you to keep that a secret."

"Another one of those matters where I shan't speak about then?" He muttered. "First with the reservoir of mana and now this. Will all future matters have to be concealed when it comes to adventurers, or is it just with you specifically?"

"Just me, Krentelfal," Illya said. "– and probably my other guild members. We're not normal, as you probably guessed by now."

Krentelfal shrugged as a leaf phased pass him. "I suppose I'll have to meet them then, won't I?"

Illya frowned further. "… and for what reason, exactly?"

"If these fellow adventurers of yours hold similar secrets as you do now, then I'd rather see for myself." He said. "It would be troubling if something off were to happen. Concealing something like your infinite yet inaccessible mana is rather simple, but I'm not sure the same can be said of your fellows."

Considering one of them has the ability to seemingly make spells on the fly, another with the ability to give sentience to her summons – when she got around to leveling those skills – and another that can seemingly recreate the world around him… yes, that would be incredibly hard to hide.

"I see you're point… but I have a question of my own," Illya retorted. "Why do you care? Keeping those abilities secret is my concern alone, not yours."

"Your concerns are my concerns," The old ghost said. "I wouldn't have been keeping you company for almost a full year without showing a slight bit of concern now would I?"

 _What._

"I think of you as a grandchild I never had, or something vaguely similar," Krentelfal continued, not noticing the thousands of question marks that were popping out of Illya's head. "Out of all the adventurers that passed by, you were the one that stayed the most."

"What."

"It was quite a refreshing experience to have someone willingly stay for my repetitive wordplay. Mayhaps I should make more, for when this is all over?"

"Wait, wait, wait! Timeout!" Illya halted his tirade with urgency. "What're you talking about? What time spent together? Didn't we meet just yesterday?"

His floating stance followed her on horseback but slumped ever so slightly. "Ah… Mayhaps I remembered wrong? My days back at the Fountain of Heroes were lonely, but bearable whenever a certain young adventurer appeared."

He chuckled to himself as if remembering an old memory. "He would sit around and listen as I told tales of my past and my frankly _magnificent_ attempts at wordplay. While he was a male, you shared a similar mana signature, so I had simply assumed that it was a woman under that huge hulk of armor. It would appear that I was wrong, apologies young one."

 _He… he could remember things? From before the Transition?_

"Truly, I should have seen it earlier. There was no way a woman such as yourself could've been under that giant's armor," He berated himself, ignoring the look of pure confusion that Illya had. "Perhaps you were his sibling? Do you know of a giant Guardian named Illyasviel?"

"… That's my name," Illya muttered. "I recently used an appearance changing potion. I didn't want to confuse you, sorry."

"Oh!" He mused as his shoulders rose in jubilation, a hearty chuckle escaping him. "I see, I see! How rude of me to not confirm first before jumping to conclusions. That must also be why you said that we only met yesterday, you wanted to avoid confusion…"

Krentelfal's eyes shifted as he peered down at her. "… Still, it is odd that the man I spoke to at that time would choose to become a woman."

"… You were right about the confusion part, but from the start, I was always a woman."

In her heart, that is. Now, she had the mature body to prove it.

The silence that followed was… awkward, to say the least.

"Ah…" He muttered. "I truly should cease the making of assumptions. Forgive me."

"It's fine," Illya finally said. "Look, I'm willing to put it all behind us. Just don't bring it up again, please."

"To make new memories? I see, I see–" He fell short and sighed. "Another assumption… Forgive this old ghost."

"No, actually let's do that," Illya stated with a new look of subtle determination on her face. "Even though we spent that much time together–" Even if she didn't know the details of it, "–we still don't know each other as people. We should get started from there."

This was the NPC that she would simply relax with whenever her family wasn't home. The NPC that kept giving her a smile on her face when she felt even the slightest bit alone. The NPC– the person that she found even a slight connection with.

She didn't want that to fade, even if what they knew of each other was basically shot. Hell, Illya didn't even know the personal details of the guy! All she knew was that he hovered around the fountain and told funny jokes!

From the looks of it, Krentelfal thought the same.

"I see… I would like that, lady Illyasviel."

"Just call me Illya."

"That I will, Illya."

Her earlier sour mood had faded and now a warmer feeling took hold.

Oh yeah… they were stuck to each other, weren't they? She was his supremely stable supply of mana, and she, the supplier. Unless he wanted to leave, there was no way for them to separate, not without sending himself to whatever afterlife existed for him.

Illya realized that didn't want that to happen, not even one bit.

She ignored the fact that he probably had several thousand years worth of mana stockpiled up now.

"On a separate matter entirely, mayhaps you could impart to me on how those white birds work?"

"Nope."

"Not even a little tweet out of you?"

"N-Nope!"

The snickers she held did not fade as quickly as she hoped.

* * *

Rin was pleased.

She walked joyfully with a skip in her step – or rather closer to a saunter than actual walking – as she glided her way into the Arcadia. Ferlna of course noticed but for some reason, she didn't immediately decide to greet her.

Not that it would put any damper on her mood. After all, Rin just had the most wonderful night in the days she spent in this world.

Turns out, Shirou's third leg was absolutely fine.

 _Definitely fine~_

Rin managed to break herself from her stupor – as much as she would rather relish in the very recent memories – and focused on the task at hand. She wasn't about to be called out on being distracted, not this first-rate magus!

She was then caught by the appearance of a bundle of rather beautiful items on the table counter.

 _Oh, look, shiny._

"Hey Ferlna, where did those gems come from?" Rin asked with a hint of eagerness, something that Ferlna caught onto rather quickly.

"These, Magi Tohsaka?" She gestured the rather large and round gems on the table. "These are flame stones. There was a sale at one of the stalls yesterday so I decided to purchase a few. Winter is fast approaching so having some form of warmth should prove useful."

"Flame stones…" Rin muttered as she walked up to them, holding one in her palm. "Hmm… What else can they do?"

"Strange to find an adventurer that doesn't know…" the Lander muttered. "I believe that most adventurers find a use for them through enchantments, giving some of their weapons more flame-like properties." She shrugged. "Unfortunately, I am no adventurer. If you want to know more, I suggest you ask the much more knowledgeable adventurer smiths."

 _Interesting…_

Rin had honestly never seen gems like these before. They glowed even without the influence of light as if their inherent glow came from the depths of the crystal itself. A marvel to behold to be sure.

However, that wasn't all that made this gem catch her eye. What really caught her attention was the swirling mass of mana literally circling within it. It surged much like its namesake, like a raging inferno yet tempered like a kindled fire.

Calling this marvel a mere flame 'stone' was simply abhorrent, a crime against the very existence of her magecraft! If anything, this was a fire personified as a lustrous gem!

 _Very interesting…_

"Ferlna," Rin called as she spun the gem in her hand. "Do you have any spare gemstones like these?"

Ferlna still held that look of curiosity on her but didn't act on it as usual. Instead, she shuffled the glasses on her dainty nose as she pondered.

"Yes, I do… However, it will take me time to find them within the storage room." She halted her shuffling and gazed at the magus. "Might I ask what you intend to do with them?"

Rin's didn't really want to reveal her magecraft to them. Her training as a magus screamed at her with vigor to not even consider the idea, but Shirou had done so yesterday with structural analysis to some blacksmiths.

… Also, there wasn't really a mages association here to slap a drastic fine on her – or kill her – was there?

"I use gems for most of my magecraft," Rin found herself saying, cringing only slightly as the inner secretive magus wanted to tear her own heart out. "I haven't seen gems like these before so I want to see if they could help with my own personal research."

"I see…" Ferlna muttered. "Well then, once we're done with the paper, I'll be able to help you with your endeavor. It's the least I could do for the help you're offering me."

Oh yeah, she basically put herself up as a test subject yesterday, didn't she?

Granted, she was also very curious about the body structure of adventurers. The way they'd supposedly revive from the cathedral didn't make sense to her other than the religious connotations.

Great, not even a whole week in this new world and Rin had already found several projects to occupy herself on, not including the future studies she wanted to conduct on the items in this world or the monsters just outside the city.

"Unrelated to your magic," Ferlna said, breaking Rin's train of thought. "I find myself with a concern. The researchers at the capital, as inane as they are, hold significant weight as to whether or not the paper will be accepted. It would hurt their irritating concept of pride if we were to denounce the cardinal spellcasting formulas in the paper."

"Does the opinion of those old farts matter that much?" Rin questioned, finding herself another stool to take a seat on by the bookshelves to Ferlna's left. "We can just appeal to the top brass, right? If he accepts it, then we won't need approval from the rest of the idiots."

Ferlna sighed. "Therein lies the problem." She took a moment to readjust her glasses. "The one who holds the 'top brass' position, is the Sage of Miral Lake, a man named Regan… Unfortunately, the man has proven to be a bit of a recluse. Contacting him usually takes weeks, if not months, to garner a reply."

"So we got a lazy ass, not bad. Those kinds of people can be swayed if we grab their interest somehow." Rin speculated. "What are the usual ways you people try to contact him?"

"Simply through common letters via courier," Ferlna replied. "However, those prove to be fruitless as the sage actively ignores them."

"Then why keep sending letters at all?" Rin questioned with a furrowed brow. "Doing something that failed, again and again, is just plain stupid."

From the way Ferlna frowned with a sigh, Rin could tell that the Lander felt the same thing.

Ugh… The more Rin learned of these supposed 'Elders' the more she thinks that the magical side of the Landers is just full of senile old bats. That probably wasn't too far from the truth.

"Then what do you propose?" Ferlna asked as she massaged her brow. "Send a grander pigeon? Use a griffin to mail the letter?"

"You're thinking a bit small there, Ferlna." Rin chided, also checking if the Lander had a headache from the way her hands moved. "If this 'Sage of Miral Lake' is renowned for contributions to magic, then we simply need something magical to garner his attention."

Rin rose from her stool and wandered around the shop, only stopping when she found an ornate looking brass bird.

 _Perfect._

"You don't mind if I use this bird, do you?" Rin asked, admittedly with a sly grin growing on her face.

Rin didn't really wait for a reply as she grabbed it and tossed it in her hand to get a feel for its weight.

Light and malleable, almost perfect to use. Shame it wasn't made of gold, though. From research she had read in the library, gold was apparently a much more conductive material for this world's mana, as stated by some old codger that tried out a golden staff for the first time.

She didn't waste a second by flowing mana into the construct.

Mana flowed into its eyes and reaching the supposed section where a brain would have been. It was small and hollow in there – which was also perfect – allowed Rin enough leeway to stuff one of the smaller flame stones within it, which she did.

She could tell that Ferlna grew confused with her actions, but simply sat and watched, no doubt knowing that she would gain an explanation later.

Rin allowed her mana to flow again into the bird, but this time to the flame stone as well. She felt the surging inferno of mana within it just waiting to be released… or rather, to be used to its fullest potential.

The flame stone that had fit just barely, shifted its shape as it completely filled the hollow alcove leaving no room for wiggling. The mana within calmed as Rin fed her own mana into it.

As beautiful as the gem was, it was far too volatile and unfocused for her tastes. Adding her own mana to the mixture calmed it down, allowing the mana to be shaped to her will.

A series of commands were added to the gem, causing it to dim slightly in its glow. That lasted for but a moment until the final decision was made, veins of mana flowed out from the gem and into the brass work, creating pathways where mana would flow through them with just a bit of effort.

The mana finally calmed as the 'nerves' were made. With a final burst of prana to jump start it, the brass bird shivered to life. Wings spread open and flapped, the creaking of the brass present as its own light weight – combined with the air pressure being generated from its wing beats – created flight.

Rin only noticed Ferlna again when she heard the Lander's stool being shoved to the side to give way to hurrying footsteps.

"M-Magi Tohsaka, what in the world?" She muttered, a look of wonder and awe on her face. "Did you… give it life?"

 _What an odd conjecture._

"Not really," Rin replied as she ended that very same conjecture. "It's just a pseudo-familiar. The gemstone in its head gives out simple commands to the rest of the brass construct. Simple flapping movements for the wings enough to generate flight. It should also follow basic orders on where to go, but it won't be able to fight yet or ready to move great distances without a steady supply of prana."

… Although, the flame stone seemed to set the brass bird on fire. The metal wasn't melting at all so it was likely that it was just a visual thing, thankfully. It'd be bad if the brass bird just melted into a pool of slag right then and there.

It also looked like a cool phoenix right now.

Maybe a different elemental gemstone would change the way it works? The fire looked cool, sure, but the magus wondered if there were any other additional effects it had?

Rin rubbed her chin in thought.

"Hey, Ferlna? How far away is the guy– er, Regan, from here? I need an accurate measurement so I can fill this guy with enough prana to make the distance–"

The sound of a Lander hitting the floor caught her attention.

Rin turned to see Ferlna flat on her back with her eyes rolled to the back of her head.

"… Was it something I said?"

Eh, she'd wake up sooner or later. Rin might as well start finishing up the paper. She only had a few proofreads left until they were done anyway, Rin could let the Lander rest until then.

Rin turned the signboard outside to signal that it was 'closed' just in case.

After all, she didn't want to be accused of anything barbaric like _'assault'_ of all things.

* * *

Shirou held back a yawn as he made his way to the forge. He couldn't afford to show up looking tired or else… Well, actually he didn't know what would await him if he did, but from the looks that most of the other blacksmiths had when he was announced to be Meltraus' apprentice…

… Well, two hands clasped together with a look of solemn pity on their face said as much as it could, didn't it?

Shirou also didn't want Meltraus to ask what he had been doing to warrant his exhaustion. He really didn't want to explain it.

Last night… last night… it was a very tiring experience, to say the least.

He took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly, controlling himself. Most of his fatigue had faded now so he could focus greatly on his soon to come errands.

"Hmm… What kind of katana should I get?" An unknown voice said, a young boy from the tone of it. "What do you think, Minori?"

"I don't know much about swords. I'm sorry, Tohya." A second one replied, probably a girl of similar age.

By the time Shirou turned the corner and saw two children standing at the front of a nearby weapons shop, looking through the selection of katana as best as they could.

It wasn't an actual blacksmith's shop, those were for the more personalized orders. All regular and mass-produced weaponry were sent off to a weapons shop where both the shopkeeper and the blacksmith that made the blade would get a cut.

From the looks of it, one of the regular short swords he made was there, sitting on a display for the world to see. There was something in his chest at the sight, something close to a spark, but he didn't know exactly what that spark entailed.

"What about this one?" The young girl asked. Her name was Minori, judging from their talk from earlier. "It's pretty long… Maybe that gives it more strength?"

 _You would need more upper torso strength to wield it properly._

"Too long for me… what do you think about that one?" He said as he pointed to a katana with a somewhat larger hilt. "I could probably have a better grip on that!"

 _It would get in the way of your smaller body. Regular swings would take less effort but the handle itself would catch itself on your body._

"You would know more than me, Tohya. You're the Samurai, after all." She seemed to pout. "Besides, they all have the same stats. Does it matter which one we buy?"

A quick glance to the side showed that the shopkeeper Lander was trying his best to remain professional, but it was hard when your customers looked like kids.

He heard similar complaints from Melhia sometimes. When you meet a smaller and younger adventurer, you were never able to be sure whether or not the adventurer in question was actually that age or not. For all these Landers knew, they could be older than their grandmother.

Not for Shirou though, he knew from a single glance that these were children, without any knowledge on weaponry too by the looks of it.

He wasn't really going to be late, so Shirou could spare just a few minutes to help out.

It would be disastrous if the boy used an unsuitable weapon in battle.

"Excuse me," Shirou called out to catch the children's attention. "Would you mind if I helped?"

"Hm?" The young boy mused, staring up at Shirou in confusion. "Nii-san, you know anything about swords?"

"Yes, I used to do Kendo."

It wasn't a lie, the third-rate magus used to do kendo once in a while with Fuji-nee.

It was actually less 'kendo' and more 'smack Shirou around until he faints' kind of thing. Pretty similar to what Saber used to do with him if he was honest.

"Tohya, I don't think we should trust him. He's a stranger…" The young girl stated sensibly, which Shirou honestly agreed with. "The last time we did that…"

"But we'll be here all day if we don't buy one now," Tohya argued, a display of childish ignorance. "If this guy can shave that time away, then we can spend more time doing other things! We only have today to relax, after all…"

… There was a hint of grim acceptance in his tone, something that Shirou didn't know how to approach.

"Well… fine," She relented with a pout. "I suppose he can help, but don't say that I didn't warn you."

"Great!" He cheered before turning to Shirou. "So, which katana do you think is best for me?"

Shirou quickly walked up to the rack of katanas. "If possible, can I see the katana that you had before?"

"Yeah, no problem," He replied as he opened his menu to display it.

Shirou's own structural analysis filled in all the details he needed. He didn't pry into anything other than battle scenarios, he had the decency to maintain privacy after all.

The third-rate magus was… conflicted with how the sword was used. From what he could see, the sword was used mainly for attacking and attacking without much concern about defense. The basis was on how the boy would apparently run up to monsters and start slashing.

Ignoring the fact that this child's class was that of a Samurai, which played a rather defensive role in this world, Shirou could see that the boy had little to no training in the art of swordplay.

A complete beginner. Only the 'Skills' given to all players being the only things that kept him alive. That could be the case for almost every other player in this world, which didn't really sit well in Shirou's stomach.

"Have there been any problems when you used that katana?" Shirou asked. "Knowing something like that would make this go smoother."

"Now that you mentioned it…" Tohya muttered. "I could definitely go for a lighter one. This one is sometimes a bit too heavy for me to swing with."

Shirou knew he was talking about regular attacks, not ones that required mana to utilize. The burden his arms felt could be attributed to his younger age and body size, but Shirou felt that it wasn't the whole case.

Shirou picked a katana from the rack and held it towards them. "What about this one? It's a bit thinner than the one you used, but I guarantee that it's just as durable and lighter for you."

"Isn't it a bit… short?" Minori asked.

True, it was just longer than two shaku, or in layman's terms, just over sixty centimeters or a bit under twenty-four inches. It wouldn't be out of place to just call it a rather large wakizashi.

"It's still a katana, despite its size," Shirou found himself explaining. "Don't worry, it might not have as much reach, but it'll suit your brother more than his previous blade."

Also, based on the kid's up close way of fighting, a shorter katana would definitely yield him more results with more leeway of attack. He wouldn't even need to worry about hitting his allies…

… But why did they all look so sad when they fought, though?

Shirou was tempted to gaze further into the experiences that Tohya's blade held, but stopped himself and handed Tohya the katana. After all, privacy was important to everyone. "Just try it out and give it a few swings."

Shirou stepped back, something that Minori wisely copied as Tohya swung the katana around just a bit.

It was like seeing a child swing a bat around – a painful sight for the magus with nothing but swords on his mind – but Tohya seemed satisfied enough with it and nodded to himself with a smile.

"This feels great!" Tohya cheered as he turned to the counter. "How much for it!?"

The Lander sighed and looked at the blade. "Just a hundred gold, adventurer…"

Shirou didn't miss the slight disdain and wariness that the tone held.

"Alright," Tohya muttered as he grabbed a bag of gold from his pocket, handing over the bag once he confirmed that all one hundred of the gold was there. "Here you go. Thanks for the help, Nii-san!"

As they left, with Tohya seemingly starting a random game of tag with his sister much to her displeasure, Shirou turned to the Lander. His gaze held no animosity, which was a stark contrast to what the Lander showed.

"What?"

"They were just kids," Shirou softly chided. "There's no need to be rude."

The Lander merely scoffed and looked elsewhere.

Shirou frowned and sighed to himself, already back on the path to the forge.

He was tired in the morning, and from the looks of it, he was going to be tired for the rest of the day, at least mentally.

 _I wonder what Sakura's doing?_

* * *

Sakura sighed as she shuffled in her steps.

 _This is a bad idea, Sakura._

That was the thought that would not leave her alone, like a plague that spreads through touch.

Presently, the youngest, technically, of the Emiya Family was walking through the forest. The very same forest that Illya had taken them in the first few days of arriving in this world.

Sakura found herself with almost nothing to do if she were honest. Cleaning the guild room was easy enough, no struggle there, and talking to random strangers isn't really a habit that Sakura wanted to get into, despite the fact that she had met with initially random strangers since the start.

She didn't really have a subclass to raise, the apprentice subclass seemed to level up regardless of what she did albeit at a far slower rate than what would be considered normal, nor did she have a task to preoccupy herself with as her other guild members had.

She wasn't good at magical research, not good at smithing, nor was she out on a quest with another player.

Instead, she was wandering the forest filled with monsters that would likely attack her if necessary.

 _Wonderful idea, Sakura. Truly a wonderful idea._

She shook away the pessimistic thoughts and held a firm grip on her staff. She hadn't really tried killing a monster before nor did she want to in the slightest.

She had honestly seen enough killing in the Holy Grail war…

However, if her hesitance in the act would cause harm to her family, then she would need to harden her heart in order to do so. She didn't want her sister to get hurt because she wouldn't hit a slime or something similar.

Sakura would need to get started by killing a slime first, something that she could feel less guilty about because she was sure those things had no emotions. They didn't even have eyes or mouths, so there was no way for them to cry out in pain and make her feel like a terrible person, right?

… _Happy thoughts, Sakura. Happy thoughts._

Sakura stepped over a little stream of water and carried on her way.

At least she wouldn't need to clean her druid robes. They had tested it earlier when they were covered in slime goo. After putting away Rin's slime covered tunic, they would be able to take it out without a hint of the murky goo on it.

Granted, the few scratches that Shirou's leather armor had remained when they tried it, but the goo and dirt that marred its surface had been removed. Almost like it was magic… Actually, it was definitely magic, Rin said so herself.

Sakura held back a chuckle.

Her sister certainly hated the fact that she couldn't understand the magic behind the inventory system, but someday she'd learn it. Sakura was sure of that.

The sound of ruffling bushes caught her ear.

Sakura gripped her staff as she turned to face it.

What were the spells she had again? She had the simple Heal, a minor movement restriction spell called Vine Snare… is that it? Thinking back on it now, she really didn't have many spells to use whatsoever.

The only real kind-of-attacking spell she'd get, based on when she last checked, was at level ten. Even then, it was just a summon spell for some small baby animal.

Alright… calm down, Sakura. You have a restriction spell to hold… whatever it is, in place. Just hit it while it's struggling and heal if you get hurt. Nothing too hard, right?

The shuffling of bushes stopped. In turn, Sakura's curiosity grew.

… _It wouldn't hurt to take a peek over the bush, right?_

After a short second of minor pondering, the debatably youngest of the guild shuffled her way to the bush.

With bated breath, she peered over the bush…

… and the short whimper echoed from the undergrowth, alongside a tuft of silver fur.

"… Oh dear…"

In her sight was a small – and in her opinion very adorable – wolf pup. Silver streaks across its body, its neck covered in fluffy fur, and a long tail that flickered underneath its body in a show of fear and resignation.

"Oh, you poor thing…" Sakura muttered with pity. Soon, she gazed all around the surrounding forest for a sign of its parents.

Her eyes lingered on the random blots of silver fur around the area, very reminiscent of the day that Sakura and her guild had fought these monsters.

Granted, they had painstakingly looted all the fallen drops so nothing was left… but these fallen bits of fur indicated that some other party must have come around recently. From the looks of it, that party must not have cared about the drops at all.

The tufts of fur disappeared into bubbles of EXP, but they didn't flow anywhere and simply floated back up into the sky.

Was that what happens if you were too late to pick up the drops? Rin would certainly like to know that.

Another short whimper came out from the pup as Sakura attempted to approach.

… Had it not left from its spot here? Gazing at where its family had fallen, unable to do anything as they were slaughtered…

While Sakura could not relate to the feeling, she could emphasize with it.

"There, there…" Sakura cooed as she set her staff to the side, a hand held out towards the pup. "Everything will be fine, don't worry."

The pup backed away with a limp, stumbling within the shrubbery like a new-born calf… except it wasn't new-born in the slightest. The way the ribs had sunken and the way its bones were just about showing from underneath its fluffy fur…

… Illya would forgive her for this, right?

* * *

Four hours.

It had taken literally four hours, just four hours of both travel on horseback and combat to take out all of the surrounding lairs. All of which had weak cultists that didn't put much of a fight whatsoever.

Seriously, even if they were all level fifty, they should at least have something more to them than strong magical attacks!

They could have variety too, you know!? The amount of Fire Balls she was being fired at with was ridiculous!

Illya sighed and hefted her glorious axe onto her shoulder as she grabbed a pair of boots. A quick look at the description told her that these gave bonus movement speed for three seconds after a kill, which was very interesting.

That was the last piece of Tulius' armor to retrieve. Now, if the cultists wanted to re-summon their precious demon lord, they'd have to go through Illya first, assuming she'd get to keep the armor.

If she wouldn't be able to, then Krentelfal was significantly overpowered enough to break through any kind of hold they could have on him, especially with the apparent surplus of mana she had given him.

She walked out of the lair while ignoring the sight of bloodstains – they'd fade away into EXP with time – and focused solely on the grassy fields.

"Was it hard this time, young Illyasviel?"

"Not at all, Krentelfal."

"… Why am I even here? A tag-along?"

"Do not put yourself down, young Eisel! You were helpful in keeping those vulgar goblins away from us."

"You could have just one-shot them anyway!"

"Focus boys! That was the last lair, now what?"

Krentelfal froze from what appeared to be a quick retort and simply shrugged. "The cultists must not have had another plan whatsoever, moreover, they weren't prepared at all for our assault. Catching them in the middle of their chanting was a rather lucky break, for if we were but an hour late then Belaphr would have certainly revived."

"Not that I'd know…" Eisel mumbled. "I didn't even get to fight much."

"Trust me, humanoid monsters are something you should avoid," Illya advised. "For someone like you, it'd be a bit too much."

"Why? Aren't they super weak? You beat them quickly after all."

"Eh… reasons."

She really didn't want him to know that once she figured out that she could use her Engel Note spell, killing those magical failures was incredibly easy… With her 'training' that the Einzberns imposed upon her to kill the adopted son of her father, it was all the easier.

"Anyway," Illya spoke up to change the topic. "We're basically done with the quest, right? What's next, old man?"

"Hmm…" Krentelfal mused to himself. "There is no longer a purpose to remain here, I suppose. Normally I'd take my dear friend's armor and return to the fountain…"

Damn! She wasn't going to keep the set!

"… However, seeing as I don't need to stay at the fountain anymore, the safest place for his armor would most likely be alongside you," He finalized. "So, I shall leave all of his armor in your care."

Yes! She was going to keep the set!

"Of course, I shall be beside you every second of the day. An extra precaution against any would-be assassins sent for his armor once more."

Eh, she could deal with that.

Eisel though, the man's mouth contorted in horror.

"Yeah… good luck with that, Illyasviel." He muttered. "You earned it, definitely. Keep the dad joke factory to yourself."

Illya sent Eisel a minor glare at the rude remark, much to the old ghost's confusion. In fact, Krentelfal looked very confused.

 _Look, Eisel! See how your insult affected him!_

"Pardon, but mayhaps you could tell me what is a factory?"

 _Never mind, he was confused for an entirely different reason._

"Alright then, let's go home," Illya said. "Use 'Call of Home' and we can get back to despairing in the city."

"Thank god, I'm gonna look forward to that… as morbid as that sounds." Eisel muttered. "I hate long missions. This is why I don't do raids."

"You could always drop your miner subclass and try out the tailor subclass, you sewing otaku," Illya suggested with a slight grin. "You would probably prefer something like that anyway."

"I tried that already…" Eisel muttered in heavy disappointment. "The act of 'sewing' here is just tapping on dialogue boxes like mindless lemmings. There's no room for creative flair either so the joy of it is gone entirely. At least as a miner, I can actually skip digging." He then shrugged. "Although, I'm not going to any of the nearby caves anytime soon. Too much of a hassle now."

"Hmm? Have you grown lazy somehow, young Eisel?" Krentelfal asked. "Most adventurers I knew would relish at the idea of such a journey."

Eisel sent her a sideways glance and just sighed. Illya could see why.

When he talked about the 'now', he was talking about being transported to an entirely different yet familiar world. Talking to a Lander about how they were just lines of code once-upon-a-time is just asking to be lynched as insane.

Granted, the Landers wouldn't be able to do any form of lynching, but it was the thought that counts.

Plus, it would be a huge hassle to deal with any sort of existential crisis that a Lander would have.

Illya sighed and started chanting the return spell.

 _Seriously, who would be insane enough to try to explain that concept to the Landers?_

* * *

"So basically, most adventurers weren't even controlling their bodies as a regular person would," Rin explained. "It was more like controlling a puppet or something like that. Not completely sure on the specifics but I'm sure that my guild master would be able to shed some light on it. She's been an adventurer far longer than I have."

Rin watched as Ferlna furiously took down notes on her personalized clipboard.

After Rin had finalized the paper, she had awoken Ferlna and gotten the location where the Sage of Miral Lake was supposedly residing. It would take almost all of Rin's currently meager prana to let the brass bird fly all the way there, but Ferlna managed to help by lending her own prana.

Granted, Rin oversaw the process and made sure that any and all mistakes she could have made were rectified before they appeared. It was easy, like overseeing neural surgery… that wasn't easy, never mind.

Once it had enough mana, Rin allowed it to take off, with the research papers safely strapped onto its supposed ankles. It was hanging off of it like a coconut from a pigeon, as weird as that sounded, but honestly, there were magi that did weirder stuff.

When the pseudo-familiar left, Rin suggested they get started on the next research paper while they were still in a working mood.

So here Rin was, explaining to the Lander how and why the adventurers around them acted the way they had when the 'May Incident' occurred.

It was very hard trying to navigate through the conversation, making sure that Ferlna wasn't clued in on how their existence was basically created and based from a game not too long ago and that their memories were probably fabricated in some way or form.

She wasn't an idiot. Saying something like that would probably make Ferlna distrust her completely, and if she believed her then she'd probably break down in an existential crisis.

Hence, her current explanation. She had stated that adventurers were regular people who had found a way to send their consciousness to a different land via some form of technology – which Ferlna doubted heavily – where they controlled self-created bodies to experience a whole new world. The very act was considered a game to them.

Granted, she said that the bodies were a bit dated and couldn't be capable of fully expressing themselves but were, without a doubt, peerless in combat.

The reason the 'May Incident' occurred, is that these adventurers, who had families and friends in their original land, had somehow been permanently trapped in their current adventurer bodies. Thus, they had been taken away from their friends and family by some unknown force.

Hence their hysteria.

"This is… very fascinating…" Ferlna muttered as she wrote down on her clipboard. "And you can confirm this? You were in a different land, as well?"

Well, more a different plane of existence or dimension, but land worked out here better. Easier to explain than dimensional theory at least.

"Yep, that's right," Rin confirmed with a sigh. "I still remember it… The house me and my guildmates lived, my unruly teacher that would visit us daily, my classmates that are probably wondering where we all went… I remember all of it."

At some point, Ferlna's quill had fallen still. With a glance, Rin could see the look of concern and pity that she was being given.

"Don't mind it," Rin waved off the concern with ease. "I have my family here with me, they're all I need," She shifted her gaze to the clipboard. "More importantly, are there any other questions you have?"

Ferlna gazed at her, most likely trying to decipher whether or not Rin was possibly wearing a facade. She wasn't wearing one though.

Rin would miss the few friends she made – especially those three knuckleheads – but as long as she was with her sister, surrogate sister, and lover, then nothing would be able to cause her to worry.

As long as she had them, that is.

If she didn't, then Rin would have probably have gone all _'evil magus rawr'_ mode on all of these people rather quickly and started researching for a way to return with haste.

Probably trying out live dissection of Landers and adventurers alike just to see if it could help too, you'd never know.

 _Eh, teenage girl things._

"Yes… I do have one single question," Ferlna brought up, the concern having abated somewhat to make way to her usual glint of curiosity. "This understanding of magic you have… the only way to explain it and your expertise of it, is that there is magic from where you came from too, is there?"

 _Eh… Ah… Well played, Ferlna._

She had discarded the part of her that warranted secrecy of the existence of magecraft. So now, she couldn't really hide it from Ferlna.

"Yes, magic exists in our land… but it's a dying art."

"Would you care to expound?" Ferlna prodded.

Rin obliged.

"There aren't many magi left in our land. I and the rest of my guild are one of the many few. In fact, the very existence of magic has long since faded into myth and story," Rin explained, seeing the look of surprise on Ferlna's face. "Our world has no more creatures like this land has, all of them having been banished to the 'Reverse side of the world', so there was no need for the people of our world to defend themselves… unless you counted defending from each other."

Seriously, humanity could be as stupid as a bunch of primates with their trigger finger for flinging shit.

"Ignoring that part of our history," Rin moved on. "Magic, which we call magecraft in our land, is a mystery that can be actualized through the use of mana – or prana as we called it – but can also be replicated by the mundane methods. Things like Earth Shot can be replicated by throwing dirt, for example."

"Interesting…" Ferlna muttered, yet she did not write it down once she heard that it wasn't a widely known art, and therefore inconsequential to her research. "Although, it does not explain the disappearance of magic in your land."

"You can use magic here freely," Rin said. "In our land, magecraft is weaker the more people know how it works. For example, a Fire Ball would work as normal if only one person in the world knew how to use it. However, if two people know the process, then the Fire Ball is half of its size and half of its power. This led to a mindset of keeping our magic a secret, both from enemies and other allied magi."

"Eventually, if a secret is kept long enough, then it just ceases to exist in the eyes of the masses," Rin continued. "Well, that's that. My previous knowledge on the magecraft of my land made it easier to apply to the magic of this land. Does that make sense?"

Ferlna nodded.

"It does… and I feel as if I learned something more about you," Ferlna admitted. "While open, you are without a doubt enigmatic to me. I am glad, that you opened me up to what must have been a widely guarded secret in your land."

"Well, it's kind of easy to do that, seeing as there's no mages association about to kill us all for doing that–"

Rin stopped her miniature informational rant as she saw the look of pure horror that Ferlna had.

 _Ah… whoops_ _?_

"Kill…?" She muttered. "Was your world truly as… unforgiving, as that?"

"Don't get me wrong, all magi are dicks who only think of how to further their research," Rin offered. "If some people knew, then they'd zealously work to either induct – as impossibly rare as it sounds – or kill him… and all his relatives and friends, just to be sure that the secret of magecraft remains a secret."

Rin saw the growing horrified face and winced.

 _Okay, bad choice of words._

"Don't worry, basically all of the adventurers don't even know about any of that!" Rin offered once more. "It's just me and my guild, and we're mostly good magi."

"Mostly?"

"Well… some of us have done things we regret, but we put it behind us to live in this new land," Rin continued. "Just… forget about everything I said about magi. Don't let it cloud your research about adventurers. Magi are a small and _irrelevant_ sample size to take note of. There are probably no other magi that came with us."

"… And why, pray tell, would you assume that?"

This time, Rin simply snorted.

"I doubt there are any magi that would stop their research to play any games. I only started because my guild master begged me too."

Rin looked out the window, noticing the now rising moon.

"Ah… It appears that it is late," Ferlna observed, a hint of a sullen frown on her face. "I suppose you are to return now?"

"Yeah…" Rin muttered, unused to the odd look Ferlna had. "Don't worry, I'll try to swing around tomorrow and help your research. Maybe I'll bring my guild master too for extra information."

"Yes. That would be appreciated."

Right, she looked like she was in a funk.

Rin stepped up to Ferlna and did what was necessary.

She rubbed her hands all over the Lander's cheeks and stretched them wide.

"Don't. Think. About. It."

"Fua-ardoun?"

Rin guessed that the Lander had said 'Pardon'. The stretched cheeks weren't really helping her enunciation a single bit.

"Keep out all your worrying and focus on your goal. Worrying doesn't help anyone." Rin let go of her cheeks, watching as the Lander rubbed them in confused irritation.

"Like this, see?" Rin let a smile grow on her face. "Just be happy, alright? You make more progress when you're enjoying something."

Rin knew the dangers of her magecraft, but it was an art form she loved. She could spend ages within her workshop perfecting her craft. Granted, not always with a big smile – more often with a growling irritated frown at the failures – but never once did she grow sullen at it all.

She kept her goal in mind with joy and jubilation, that was all she needed to do to keep a smile on her face.

And now, Ferlna would do the same.

Judging from the rare and amused smile that grew on her, she would do just fine.

 _Hehe, who said that_ _giving a_ _pep-talk was hard?_

"Also, I need some of those gems before I leave."

The look of blatant irritation she received was almost comical.

* * *

Shirou hammered the last bit of bulging metal down, the steel forming a flat surface as it started to cool.

That marked the seventh sword he made today, a far cry from what Meltraus had accomplished. Most smiths made their money from horseshoes and such, but apparently, there was a surplus of adventurers who were purchasing extra swords.

Shirou wasn't sure on why so many requests were made… and in hindsight, he should be worried.

Why would so many swords be requested, and of a relatively low rarity at that?

He wasn't going to make the mistake of saying that the swords he made with Meltraus were low in quality, but adventurers should be using their already high-leveled gear for whatever battle they were preparing for.

Why use lower quality weaponry like iron swords?

Shirou didn't know but knew that it wasn't his place to ask. The grand master smith hadn't said anything about it, perhaps he hadn't noticed? The chance of that was extremely low, but not outside the realm of possibility.

After all, that very same grandmaster was currently rather busy with another project, something personally requested from a friend, so he wouldn't have the time to look at what Shirou was doing.

There were so many requests… all for what?

There was only one other conclusion Shirou had, and he didn't really like what it entailed.

"Shirou-san!" Melhia called from the front. "Are you done yet? If you are then you can go! We don't have any more weapons to forge!"

"I got it!" Shirou managed to shout back. Although, not after putting the hammer away first.

On the other side of his worry, he was pleased to say that his skill with a hammer and on the forge wasn't lacking in the slightest. All the swords he had managed to make were amazing in quality… yet he still felt as if they missed something.

Shirou did not know what it was, but he felt that he would learn very soon.

Hopefully.

Once Shirou finally set his equipment to the side, he let out a breath of relief as he stepped out of the forge. He could take the heat, but the fresh cold breeze of the night air gave him a very chilling – and not to mention welcome – feeling.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Melhia-san."

"Hmm? But isn't tomorrow a weekend?" Melhia muttered in confusion.

Shirou blinked. "Ah… I haven't really kept track of time."

In actuality, he didn't even know what specific day he had arrived, whether or not it was a Monday or Wednesday– wait a minute, did these Landers use the same day cycle that they did? Or was it different?

Maybe Sakura would know, or possibly Rin if she somehow learned from a book.

"Alright then," Melhia sighed out. "Here, come over for a second."

Shirou obliged and stepped towards her, only to find a bag shoved onto him. A quick look inside revealed it was filled with gold.

"Most apprentices get a share of the pay too if they do well enough," Melhia explained. "Papa would have given them to you earlier… but he's a little busy."

"Do apprentices really get paid?" Shirou muttered. "It seems a little… counter-productive. Wouldn't the forge need this more?"

"True," Melhia confirmed. "But~ Papa doesn't really like to live with loads of coin lying around. We're not like you adventurers with your magical pockets," Probably talking about inventories. "Besides, it's free coin. You shouldn't be complaining."

A glint took hold in her eye. "Make sure that you buy something good for your lover, alright Shirou-san?"

Shirou stifled a sigh and nodded. "I'll be sure to do that."

"Take care, Shirou-san~"

"You too, Melhia-san."

With that, they parted ways.

However, thoughts ran rampant on Shirou's mind. Thoughts of the forge. More specifically, thoughts on why he still couldn't figure out what his swords were missing.

As much as he knew his core nature was that of a sword, he didn't know what he was dearly forgetting the most when creating another sword.

Shirou sighed as he turned a corner.

Was it supposed to be hard for a sword to forge a sword? It shouldn't be. After all, a sword should know what a sword should need, right?

In any case, Shirou would need to spend quite a long while thinking long and hard–

"I'm telling you, we restock at the end of the week! Just get off your high horse and wait a few days!"

"Liar! I see those ingredients behind you!"

Shirou halted in his steps and gazed at one of the stalls, a familiar sight once he realized who was there. A Lander with alabaster skin and ginger hair.

It was the shopkeeper he had met on his second day here, Egburd.

However, next to him was yet another familiar sight, the same adventurer who had given him… Haste potions, was it? Isaac was his name if Shirou remembered correctly.

From the looks of it, he had another adventurer, sharing a similar look to him, standing beside him looking every bit as agitated as the Lander, yet far more controlled, almost like a knight.

"Those _ingredients_ are my food!" The Lander argued back. "How do you expect a man to eat? To sell everything he has!?"

"Why bother to put them all up on display if you weren't gonna sell them!?" Issac questioned with agitated vigor. "Quit stalling! We need those ingredients!"

"You need them!?" He repeated with a scandalized growl. "You lazy adventurers don't do anything anymore! You don't need my ingredients! You don't need food! You don't even die, you monsters!"

A short, but nonetheless heavy, silence took hold.

"Monsters?" Isaac muttered, his agitation finally reaching his peak as he gripped his sword handle. "If that's how you see us then what's stopping this monster from gutting you where you stand, huh!?"

Shirou saw that exact moment to step in.

Luckily, he wasn't too slow seeing as Isaac's own guild member seemed to hold him back, grabbing his arm to prevent him from doing anything too rash.

Looks like he was used to doing that.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Shirou called out, garnering the attention of the trio of people, and the surrounding crowd that had gathered from the shouting. "It looks like we're getting a little too heated, why don't we all calm down."

"Huh? Who are you supposed to…" His soon-to-come rant fell silent as he recognized him. "Wait a minute, aren't you that level one noob from earlier this week? You're still alive?"

"You know him, Isaac-san?" The adventurer beside him, who was now letting Isaac's arm go, asked with a raised brow.

"Yeah, I gave him a few potions to help out," He replied. "So, what're you doing here, at this dump?"

The stalwart Lander looked ready to lash out again, but Shirou managed to calm him with a quick look of apology.

"Isaac-san," Shirou started. "Can you at least try to be respectful to these Landers? They have feelings and emotions too."

The large adventurer snorted and gazed at him. "Really? All I see is a buggy NPC that hasn't given me what I wanted yet."

"Didn't he give his reason out earlier?" Shirou reminded. "He has to have something to eat, otherwise he won't be able to survive."

"Well– we need to eat too!" He argued. "We're going on a short raid soon so the bonuses from cooked food would be useful."

"Is it an absolute necessity, Isaac-san?" Shirou asked. "Could you do the… raid, without it?"

"Well–"

"Yes, we can." The knight, seemingly of the guardian class, interjected from behind him. "However, it would take a while to actually do it without them. The first boss would be easier with the added buffs."

"Yeah, what he said." Isaac agreed with a shrug.

It seems like he wasn't good at explaining things. In fact, he acts as if he always expects people around him to know what he's talking about.

From the face of his companion, he's had to play the role of explaining multiple times.

"Papa, are they gone yet?"

Shirou blinked at the voice from behind the stall.

"Merideth," The Lander called. "Hurry back to your mother, this won't take long. I just need to sort these gits out."

She was short and stout, yet sharing the same alabaster skin and ginger hair – held in pigtails – as the Lander before them. She wore simple clothing as most Landers would, but there was a braid around her wrist made from flowers.

"Mmkay."

The child quickly shuffled as she scurried away, sending worried and wary glances at both her father and Isaac respectively.

Once she turned a corner, Shirou turned back to the rest of the adventurers…

… Only to find Isaac with his back turned, walking away. The knight breathed out hard, teeth clenched all the while in irritation. "Dumb ass Landers…"

The knight, most likely his aid, simply sighed. "Looks like Isaac-san has decided to forgo the ingredients. Well then, goodbye."

And with that, the aide made to follow.

"Damn adventurers… every last one of them." Egburd muttered. "Sorry laddie, I don't like to lie. I don't like you lot, not anymore. The sooner we be rid of you, the better."

He didn't say much more as he pulled the curtains above his stall, letting them fall down and covering his stall, leaving him out of sight and out of mind.

… Shirou really didn't like the situation in town.

Not one bit.

* * *

Sakura sneaked.

She curled her footsteps, with the heel touching the ground first as it rolled to her toes. She didn't really want anyone to see her at the moment, especially not any adventurer.

 _Oh, what are you doing, Sakura? This could turn out very badly…_

… Yet she couldn't abandon the little thing.

She wore her priest robes but it was clear that one of the sleeves hanging limp, a clear sign that her left arm was cradling something underneath the actual robes.

A small bark echoed across the empty guild hall.

" _Shh! You have to be quiet…"_

The barking didn't continue, but Sakura wondered for how long that was going to last.

She was good at keeping secrets, her own lover never noticed her suffering for years so that was a testament to her skill, right?

As morbid as that sounded, she snuck her way into the guild room and plopped the puppy onto the center table. It wobbled in mild confusion as it took in its new surroundings, before spotting Sakura and wagging its tail in joy.

 _So adorable~!_

Sakura stopped herself from fawning over it and searched her inventory. She had the raw sausage that Illya and Rin tried to eat a long time ago stashed away, which she laid on the table. The puppy sniffed it, growled for just a bit before pouncing on it, nibbling and tearing pieces of meat from the sausage.

Even as it was ripping meat apart with sharpened teeth and claws…

 _I_ _t was so cute~!_

Sakura found herself sat on her bed, staring at the wolf puppy as it ate to its heart's content. Most likely feeling increased relief at the sight of food, and joy at the feeling of fullness.

The way it pounced on the meat suggested that its mother had been clearly in the middle of teaching the young pup how to hunt before they were killed and everything.

It really made Sakura think, did the wolves that they killed have pups of their own? If so, what happened to them?

The pup let out a short bark, wagging its tail as the last bit of raw sausage was swallowed. It spun on its hind legs to face her and wiggled its tail. Soon after, the pup jumped onto her lap.

It shuffled atop her robes, trying to find the most comfortable position to rest in, before nestling itself deep on her lap.

The slow breathing it now had, indicated it had fallen asleep.

Sakura let a smile grow on her face as her hand moved to pet its fur. She could take care of a puppy, right? She was good at keeping secrets–

–The guild door burst open.

"Guild meeting! Get your asses into the room!"

"Don't order me around, midget!"

"Just listen to her, Rin…"

"Grrr… Fine! You better explain why this… 'ghost' is here."

"I will, I will. Now get your asses into the room!"

"You're certainly much more… vulgar and crass than before, young Illya."

"This is the real me, Krentelfal. Accept– is that a dog?"

Sakura's hand, which had frozen from her attempt to pet the dog, instead rose in a small and uncertain wave. Short and uncertain laughter soon followed.

"W-welcome back, Illya-chan…" Sakura scrambled to say.

The stare of annoyed acceptance was all she received. Shirou had wisely walked into the room and took a seat on his bed, with Rin following him.

Their guild master gazed at the puppy, then to the nonchalant bundle of gems that Rin had managed to obtain – Sakura was eager to learn where she got them from – and finally to Shirou, who had a large bag of gold in his hands.

"… Why did I think you three would be fine without me?" Illya muttered, rubbing her forehead rapidly once everyone had taken a seat. "I was gone… For. Just. A. Single. Day!"

All the while, the small and adorable wolf puppy slumbered, unaware of the continual ranting of a recently returned guild master.

* * *

 **A/N: ... This fic is starting to have a tradition of being late and I really don't like that. It's not really my fault this time (okay kinda sorta) because my laptop's casing broke. It took a while to actually find a shop nearby to repair it and procure funds to pay for it, which took a few days total. I had it prepared and everything, about to send it to Mr. Beta too, but bam my laptop shattered like a jigsaw (repaired now of course).**

 **... Although another reason I could be late is that I was spending a whole two days and a sleepless night to complete one single challenge quest in Gilfest. I blame Merlin for making these harder. Also farming the lottery, and Warframe... yeah, a lot of distractions took hold of me.**

 **–But hey, Good news! The gang is back together, yay! Now I don't have to rack my brain around to find something for Sakura to do! Seriously, as much as I love the whole cast of F/SN (excluding Shinji), Sakura is pretty one-dimensional and rarely has anything touching-up on her character, which makes it hard to find things for her to do as the recent chapters just had her meandering around. I hope that changes when the entirety of the Heaven's Feel Trilogy comes out so it gets exposed to a wider audience.**

 **Also, don't ask about how the pup managed to get past Akihabara's defense matrix. That'll be explained next chapter, so don't worry.**

 **As usual, please review if you find anything that is grammatically wrong, canonically incorrect, or just something that peeves you. I'm open to criticism in it's many volatile forms.**

 **Until next time.**

 **Kappa.**


	8. Chapter 8: Prelude

**Chapter 8**

 **Beta: Worldbringer of Joseun**

 **Cover: LousGndiner**

* * *

"Alright, who wants to explain first?"

At Illya's proclamation, the Emiya Family – among other additions – simply shifted in their seats, either out of nervousness or out of some minor discomfort.

After Illya had vented her heart out last night and fell asleep relatively quickly, the ghost that followed her had opted to spend the night in the guild hall's attic, which was odd seeing as they didn't even know that the guild actually had an attic.

Initially, once Illya had fallen asleep, the ghost was met with utmost suspicion from the family, but they noted that Illya was at least comfortable with its presence. It was from her lowered guard around the spectral entity that the rest of the guild decided to hold their tongue and hope for an explanation in the morning.

Which was what they were getting now.

"I think you should go first, midget," Rin said as she sat in a chair by the rickety dining table, biting into an abhorrently tasteless loaf of bread with a frown etched onto her face. "After all, you had a 'guest' follow you back here."

Said 'guest' was currently floating behind the little Einzbern midget. Only his upper torso was visible to them, alongside a stern yet befuddled expression taking shape on his visage.

"Oh, do not mind me," The 'guest' chattered. "I'm just an observer."

"That'll take some time, so I'll do that later," Illya excused. "Small issues need to be dealt with first… such as yours, Rin. Where did you get all the elemental stones from? Those things cost a lot more than what we earned the last time we went out."

Considering that they got one or two gold for each monster they killed last time, they only earned around twenty to forty gold. There was no way in hell that it was even nearly enough to purchase any of these stones. The cheapest Illya had ever found in her life was three hundred!

"… You didn't steal those, right?" Illya asked with suspicion.

"Of course not!" Rin exclaimed in abhorrence. "What do you think I am, some thief?"

Shirou sighed from his seat as he placed a hand on the twin-tailed magus' shoulder. "When it comes to gems, we had to stop you from hypnotizing the jewelry clerks back in Fuyuki, remember?"

"Those guys were trying to scam us!" Rin argued. "Those rubies were not worth that much! They could've broken with ease, barely even able to hold any prana in them!"

"Not the point," Illya interrupted before the magus went on a rant, again. "Point is, we want to know where and how you got them."

Rin snorted. "It isn't that big of a deal, I managed to get a friend to loan them to me."

 _A friend?_

"Was it Ferlna from the Arcadia?" Sakura asked as a slow confused tilt to her side soon followed after. "How did you manage that, Nee-san?"

"It's a give and take relationship, Sakura," Rin explained with a smirk. "She helps me with my research and I help with hers. These stones were just a bonus."

 _Well, that answers one question_ _... kinda._

"How about you, Onii-chan?"

Shirou shrugged from his seat. "I don't have a story like Rin. Melhia just gave it to me. She said that apprentices are paid if they do well enough."

"So you basically have a job, again?" Rin raised an eyebrow as she reiterated. "Meh, I guess we can start saving money now."

Illya nodded in agreement.

She wasn't always going to have money to support the guild. She had money, a lot more when compared to her other guild mates combined, but she wasn't the type to hoard her money to herself.

She would often buy a whole load of potions and use them as much as she could. If she had saved her money since day one, then she'd probably be quite rich… but then she wouldn't be here, with this kind of gear.

"Alright then, Sakura," Illya called. "You seem to have a wolf pup with you as a pet. Care to explain why?"

"Well…" Sakura started, rubbing the nape of the very relaxed wolf pup. "I found him when I went into the forest–"

"You did _what_!?"

"That was dangerous, Sakura!"

"I'm sorry… I just didn't want to feel like a burden."

Both Rin and Shirou had exclaimed in fear and worry. Illya couldn't fault them for it, they still didn't know if the respawn system would work a hundred percent of the time so death was something to be avoided.

However, right now they needed to focus. The two of them berating Sakura about her carelessness was nice, but not helpful right now.

"You two, calm down," Illya ordered – which felt really liberating for some reason – and gestured back to their seats. "Sakura hasn't finished her story yet."

The two of them seemed to disagree, the need to berate Sakura for her frankly out of character decision taking a high priority despite her apology, but nonetheless settled back down to listen to their family member.

"After I went in the forest," Sakura continued as she twiddled her fingers around the pup's fur. "I found lots of fur from slain monsters. Around the time the items disappeared, I heard barking in the bushes… and I wound up finding this little guy hiding there."

"Was it the pup of the slain monsters?" Rin asked out of mild interest but still irritated at Sakura's decision.

"I think so," Sakura somewhat confirmed. "I felt bad for it so I decided to bring it here, where it's safe."

"Not sure about that…" Illya muttered. "If some adventurers saw you with that, then they'd probably try to kill it for some EXP if they were petty."

Which most players were, Illya could attest to that based on all the idiotic decisions she had seen throughout her time in Elder Tale.

"Wait…" Rin muttered. "You found that puppy near monsters? That means it's also a monster, right?"

Illya widened her eyes.

That was true. It was still a monster, so how did Sakura manage to get it through and into Akihabara? Based on the lore, the city itself had a defense matrix designed to keep any and all monsters out of town, making it a safe haven for players and Landers that sought safety.

Illya took a glance at the wolf pup one more time.

Was there something about the wolf pup itself, or perhaps a flaw in the defense matrix that they didn't know about?

Illya hoped it was the former. The thought of monsters getting into the city was a horrifying one.

"The magical wards around the city keeps hostile monsters out, but this wolf pup seems to be quite a friendly one. If she tames the creature then all should be well."

The group collectively turned to Krentelfal, who had spoken up after several minutes of silence.

"What do you mean?" Illya asked for clarification.

"Ah… I suppose that the Kunie clan wouldn't explain," Krentelfal muttered. "All the magical wards surrounding the cities of Yamato act based on the natural intent of the monster. If they are inherently hostile, as these monsters are, then it will prevent them entry."

"Alright…" Rin muttered. "Then what about that taming thing you mentioned?"

He raised a brow in moderate surprise as he gazed towards the magus. "I had thought adventurers such as yourselves would be aware of this. Your kind has tamed monsters and made them your allies for centuries now. Why in fact, it was said that there were adventurers who took creatures from the foulest reaches as their allies."

Illya blinked.

"Isn't that only restricted to the Summoner class?" Illya asked for clarification. "I doubt a Druid or a Swashbuckler can tame a monster."

Krentelfal shrugged. "My memory might not be the most faithful, but it cannot hurt to attempt it, am I not right?"

 _Well, when you put it that way._

"Alright, we can try that later once we learn how," Rin interrupted as her eyes focused on the ghost that spoke. "Small issues are out of the way now, right? Let's focus on the bigger, old, translucent, and floating issue at hand."

"What an odd way of describing an issue."

"Shut it ghosty."

"Rin, that was rude."

"Shut it ghosty, please."

Illya sighed and raised a hand to gesture to Krentelfal.

"This is Krentelfal. He's the Lander that helped me get my axe in the first place." Illya explained. "He used to drain mana from a fountain to stay in this plain of existence, but since it was broken and destroyed, he's draining it from me to stay alive."

Rin narrowed her eyes. "So he's a parasite?"

"I like to think of myself as a grasshopper, they produce the loveliest of tunes."

Illya sighed once more. "Technically he's absorbed more than enough mana to wander anywhere and one-shot anything with a single hit, but a parasite is an apt description."

"Are you okay with that, Illya-chan?" Sakura asked as concerned as ever. "Wouldn't it be a burden in fights?"

"Not to worry," Krentelfal decided to interject. "I vowed to stay out of all of Illya's battles. It is a very dishonorable act to even ponder of doing so!"

"The way this guy talks is starting to get on my nerves…"

"Nee-san."

"Fine, fine."

Illya coughed to regain their attention. "No, Krentelfal won't be a burden on me in battle. Yes, he's draining my mana but if you look at my status bar, I'm not actually losing any mana," She narrowed her eyes. "The reason for that… is a bit tricky so I'm going to be blunt about it. Keep quiet about this, that includes you, Krentelfal."

At the nod she got back, she spoke.

"As it turns out, I have the Third Magic Heaven's Feel."

 _Cue the silence… and then–_

"WHAT!?"

 _There we go._

"Hey midget, what do you mean by that!?"

"Calm down, Rin! You're breaking the table!"

Krentelfal leaned over to her. "For what reason does she label you as 'midget'?"

Illya sighed. "Personal reasons."

A long time ago, 'midget' would have been an accurate description of her. However, after drinking that appearance changing potion, she could safely say that she was at least just as tall as Rin.

Unfortunately, that meant that she was the same height as her dear brother. Being just as tall as Shirou meant that piggyback rides would be tedious to even consider doing.

She'd still try though.

After they had calmed down, Illya took the time to explain it in greater detail about how she couldn't see the skill in her menu and couldn't access the reservoir of mana no matter what she tried. Krentelfal, on the other hand, seemed to be able to tap into it with apparent ease, but that was all that was possible so far.

There was a chance that skills directly affecting her mana would tap into the Third Magic on accident.

In theory, she'd become an infinite reservoir of mana when used in a party or raid of any size with an Enchanter using Mana-Channeling, which takes all the mana of party members and redistributes them equally.

Mana drain effects would have no effect on her but still give the mana to an opponent too.

Having an infinite reservoir of mana that you couldn't access was a huge bummer. However, it was from that first theory alone that Illya knew she couldn't go on a raid with anyone other than her party anymore.

If she did, then it was likely that the skill would be revealed.

And then she'd be the most sought after player in Akihabara.

"Fuck," Illya muttered at the realization.

True Magic was broken as all hell.

"That was certainly rude." Said the ghost that could probably one-hit anything in sight.

"Illya-chan, cursing is bad." Said the girl who could keep her summons up for an infinite amount of time without drawbacks.

"Meh, at least we learned about it now. It would have been bad if you were actually in one of those raids when we found out." Said the hypocrite with the freedom to seemingly create spells on a whim.

"We'll have to talk about your language later." Said the brother who could forge swords from legend, and probably a reality marble if what the description of Unlimited Blade Works said was true.

 _Fuck._

"Alright then… So all of us have super secret skills that we can't show to others and need to level up as soon as possible so that we won't be taken advantage of." Rin muttered. "Am I right so far?"

At the consecutive nods, Rin growled in frustration.

"Right, we need to level up. Everything is easier when you're stronger… let's do that," Rin turned to Illya. "Any idea where we'd get the most EXP from farming?"

Illya nodded. "I forgot about this when we went grinding earlier, but can you all check your inventories for EXP potions?"

At the prompt, everyone but Illya herself took out a rather bejeweled blue potion, ignoring Krentelfal's cry about the indecency of grinding. They'd have to explain it to him later.

"These potions, when drunk, give a boost to your EXP gain for several hours…" She sent a glance to Krentelfal. "… It's generated in our inventories automatically if our levels are low, in order for other adventurers to grow in power at twice the usual rate."

She completely forgot to keep the realities of players from Krentelfal a secret during the talk. Hopefully, he'd simply attribute whatever they talked about to adventurer lingo.

Rin swirled the container. "Interesting… Illya, do you mind if I kept some of these and not use them? I want to run experiments on them."

Illya raised a brow. "For what– oh for the love of– you can't possibly mean to–?"

"–I'm gonna try to replicate them."

"Right, that's it! Follow me out of the guild room! We're heading over to a goblin cave and killing everything there!"

She had enough of the bullshit here! Killing is going to be very cathartic for her, soothing even.

 _Anything was better than listen_ _ing_ _to th_ _is_ _twin-tailed magus!_

Illya once heard her asshole of a grandfather say something about situations like these when his subordinates fuck up in the biggest way possible. She hated to emulate the Einzbern patriarch, but it was a very apt way of describing her mental situation.

 _To fucking hell with this family._

* * *

"So… Why this cave in particular?" Rin muttered as her feet dragged across the soil.

She wore new robes that Illya had found in her journey. They were named _[Torn Cultist Robes]_. A really shitty drop that she had gotten yesterday.

As the name implied, they were ripped in a few places, revealing just a bit of her naked skin to the world. However, for some reason, they provided more defense and increased magical attack power than her original robes, which led the pragmatist within Rin to wear it.

Illya decided that it would be funny if she didn't tell her that she got it from the dead, butchered, and bloodied cultists, even if the twin-tailed magus herself had an inkling as to where she got it from.

"The monsters here are level ten to twenty, perfect for our level range," Illya replied as she activated the teacher system, lowering her own level to a suitable fifteen. "Since Krentelfal didn't want to help us EXP leech, this is the next best thing."

 _Damn_ _ed_ _old ghost_ _._

She liked the guy, she really did, but the moment she brought the idea of going into a huge raid dungeon and have him one-shot the monsters for them to level up nicely with the bonus of experience potions, the old ghost outright denied the idea of it. He said that it wasn't an honorable decision and basically went back into Akihabara.

 _W_ _ho in the world needed honor anyway_ _!?_

Illya took a calming breath. It wasn't a good idea for them if she, the only one with enough knowledge of the world, broke down in frustration… No matter how much she wanted to.

At least Krentelfal agreed to go on a few errands for them while they were away.

"But aren't we level seven and five?" Shirou asked. "Wouldn't it be dangerous for us?"

"Don't worry about it, you guys have enough battle experience to deal with these enemies…" She said as she gazed at Shirou… and then turned her gaze to Rin. "… Or just obliterate them with overpowered spells."

"What about me and the little one?" Sakura asked as she gestured to the wolf pup draped on her shoulder. It barked as the young woman scratched its head.

"If you just stick with me, it'll be fine," Illya reassured. They really needed to name the thing, because calling it wolf pup, puppy, or some other form of variation wasn't efficient at all. "Alright, I'll take point since I'm the tank. You guys remember the formation?"

"Yeah, we remember," Rin said, speaking up for everyone else. "Just need a little refresher."

"You guys remember aggro, right?" Illya asked. "That's going to be more important for us here. I'll need to take all of – if not all then most of – the aggro to distract them. Sakura, you heal me. Everyone else will need to take out goblins one by one."

Shirou hefted his two swords, noting the look of the cave they were entering. "It's quite narrow and dark… there won't be a lot of room."

"Yes, it is…" Sakura muttered, her wolf pup barking in agreement. "It will be hard to fight without seeing anything."

Rin held up a finger, a burst of flame appearing on its tip. "I can make us some light."

Illya equipped her newbie armor and flimsy hatchet. "No need, you need to save your mana." She tapped around in her menu. "Let me handle this. **Lumine** **Light**."

Suddenly, a small but fluffy orb with a smile grew out from her fingertip.

Rin blinked.

"What is that."

"A reusable spell in the form of an item that I got from an event," Illya explained. "It creates a ball of light to help give vision in battle. Admittedly, Mage and Healer classes get better variations of the spell as they level up, but all other classes are either stuck with this item or need to use torches. You don't see a lot of veteran players using it, but it's a pretty popular item for beginners so there are a lot of cosmetic items for it."

Suddenly, two fox ears popped onto the orb as it stuck a non-existent tongue out.

"I got that one in a different event."

"It's quite cute," Sakura noted as she poked it, watching as its expression remained the same as it drifted away. Its newly added tail and ears were also wiggling as it did so.

"Don't worry, it gives enough light for us to see clearly. Goblins are nocturnal monsters and don't need light to see properly…" Illya said. "Besides, other than Sakura, if any of you manage to get beat by some goblins of all things, then we truly have no hope of surviving in this world."

Despite the jab, Shirou and Rin felt no ill will there. Compared to the Holy Grail War, all these smaller monsters felt significantly less dangerous than a servant such as Berserker.

After some time, the four of them entered the goblin cavern, which was located to the side of a nearby mountain. It took them a while, but as they went deeper within, the light that Illya's fluffy blob produced grew in tandem, revealing a few scratch marks on the side of the cave walls alongside a few animal bones.

They were a thematic choice by the developers to make it seem like the goblins actually did something in these caves. Although Illya wasn't sure if they actually did eat anything, that sort of information was irrelevant.

"The path diverges here," Illya informed. The cavern had split with a path curving to the right and another going upwards slightly. "The one on the right is full of the goblins we're after and the one going up is a path to the top of the mountain."

"So we're going right?" Rin asked.

Illya nodded and walked along, the rest of the family following without issue. It was a long and tedious trek, one that Illya was put-off by.

She was used to the occasional patrolling monster or two getting in her way whenever she wandered into a cave like this, so what did that mean when no monsters made a single appearance?

They should have met at least two patrolling parties of monsters before they even reached the intersection, and even after the intersection, there should have been another patrol party soon after they passed it…

… _Something_ _isn't right._

Illya halted in place, canceling the teacher system and equipping her usual armor for better protection.

The action prompted her family to halt with rising caution.

"What's wrong?" Shirou asked as he narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip on his purchased scimitars. Illya reminded herself to make him go buy higher leveled ones later because right now they would hinder his damage output.

"There should have been a lot more enemies when we arrived here…" Illya muttered, keeping her voice as quiet as possible yet loud enough for her guild to hear. "… Normally that wouldn't be cause for concern, but there haven't been any signs of battle yet."

"Do you think that other players got here and killed them all…?" Rin asked, sending a wary glance deeper into the cavern. "… How likely is it that they'd attack us?"

"If they were PK– player killers, then they wouldn't be here in a low-level dungeon at all…" Illya added. "… A lower leveled party would be a safe assumption, but then we should have caught up to them by now."

There were two possibilities, either a high-level party was bored and decided to clear out this low leveled dungeon – which some players did despite the fact that they wouldn't gain any levels – or the monsters themselves didn't spawn at all…

There were other possibilities, but Illya didn't have time to think on them right now. The fact remains that it could be dangerous to proceed further.

"Should we head back and try another area?" Sakura suggested. Thinking of the unknown danger that had suddenly arisen, Illya agreed.

Just when Illya was about to voice out her agreement, the sound of scuffling in front of them took hold and ensnared their attention.

Illya cast another fluffy orb of light and sent it deeper into the cavern… only to watch as a dozen beady yellow eyes reflected the light.

"Well… we found the goblins," Rin muttered as she counted the number of tribal creatures slowly crawling forward in caution, most likely due to Illya's much higher level. "… A party of goblins consist of six of them, right?"

Illya nodded as she twirled her Golden Rhapsody.

"Well, I think we found the missing parties."

The goblins collectively screamed out in bloody murder as they shot a wide volley of arrows their way.

Illya charged forward and held her axe to the side, blocking the majority of the arrows. It wouldn't have damaged her anyway due to the defensive stats that her armor gave her, but it was more or less an action to protect those behind her.

A few arrows bypassed her defense, but Shirou swat them aside with ease.

Suddenly, a goblin cry echoed across the cavern. Soon after, a few goblins behind the large group retreated deeper into the dark depths. An obvious conclusion was reached from the action.

They going to call for backup.

Not that Illya or any of the others were worried in the slightest.

Illya was familiar with the cavern and knew that there were no other exits once they went down this path. They would have met up with the rest of the goblins sooner or later, so letting them escape would save time.

Although it meant that Illya couldn't really turn the teacher system back on, lest she risk the safety of the guild. She could probably handle a whole horde of goblins by herself at her normal level, but if she was level ten or twenty, the sheer amount of these goblins would eventually overwhelm her.

She couldn't really say the same with her guild though. Rin and Sakura might get overwhelmed but Shirou could probably cleave his way through. Probably. Illya wasn't really sure about that.

After all of that, it just left one more question… why were these goblins this deep within the cave in the first place?

 _Is this the Novasphere Pioneers expansion's fault again?_

In an instant, two bursts of electricity – _were those another variant that Rin created?_ – flew around her and crashed into the group of goblins. Illya withheld any comment she had about the twin-tailed magus as the two goblins that were directly hit cried out in pain, shattering in an instant into bubbles of experience.

The goblins, in a rare display of intelligence, retreated further into the cavern as their archers shot volley after volley.

Illya noted it as a minor hindrance. It appeared that Shirou thought so too and simply battered them away.

In a single leap, both of them applied reinforcement upon their very bodies, bursting forward and cleaving through a goblin each. They didn't stop there as Illya threw her axe, cleaving through several of the remaining goblins.

In the end, only one remained, only until Rin walked up to it and kicked it.

"Alright…" Rin cackled out. "I always wanted to see if this could work. **Stand up**."

Without warning, the goblin stood on its two feet struggling to move otherwise.

"Looks like compulsion magecraft work on monsters," Rin noted. "Neat, I could perform live experiments like this."

While the monster couldn't actually perceive what the twin-tailed magus had said, it could feel the intent wafting from her, judging from how it seemed to increase its struggling.

"We can experiment on monsters later," Illya chastised, although she was very interested in the act if it could alleviate frustrations that were piling up on her. "First, we deal with these goblins. Their behavior isn't normal."

Illya looked at her guild. "While this isn't the best time, I suggest drinking the potion now. The number of goblins here should help you guys gain levels quickly."

"Fine~" Rin drawled as she ordered the goblin to kill itself with a nearby rusty spear.

After they had drunk the potion, the guild made their way deeper into the cavern. Not once did they encounter a goblin along the way, only more of the same scratch marks and animal bones. Repeated textures to save budget probably.

"We're nearing the last room," Illya said. "It's going to be an open cavern so there should be enough room for us to fight freely."

"Can we do whatever we want?" Rin asked while she played with a hovering amalgamation of elements to her side. "I could get a lot of data from this."

"Go wild."

Illya slowed her pace once she noticed the cavern widen.

"We're here," Rin said.

Close to a hundred beady eyes stared back at them.

Shirou twirled his scimitars. "So are they."

A loud cry came from a goblin standing at the very back. They were only just able to see it wearing a dog mask on its head… while riding a dire wolf. In response, the multitude of goblins around him cried out in tandem, a sonorous roar of defiance.

"That one in the back is a Goblin Tamer," Illya informed. "He's far too strong for any of you guys to take on so deal with the other guys. Make sure to kill them all, okay?"

"How strong is that Goblin Tamer, exactly?" Sakura asked, a hint of both curiosity and worry in tone.

"As strong as a level forty-one…" Illya muttered. "Which doesn't make sense, seeing as this goblin cave has a level range of ten to twenty. It shouldn't even have a goblin tamer in it. Only a few shamans at worst."

"No use complaining about it now," Shirou said as he holstered his scimitars. Instead of using those low-level weapons, a familiar pair of black and white Noble Phantasms took their place. "It'd be bad if any other party of players ended up here."

"Right then, extermination sounds fun," Rin drawled unconcerned, but afterward she sent a polarizing concerned glance to her sister. "Sakura, stick with me okay? I don't want you to get hurt."

Sakura – and her still unnamed wolf pup – nodded in agreement as they stood behind her. "Alright, Nee-san."

"Everyone ready?" Illya asked. At the nods of confirmation she received, she turned to the horde of goblins. The fluffy orb of light beside her bounded upwards towards the cavern ceiling, expanding until it exposed the entire room in light.

All the goblins were completely visible now.

"Everyone, kill."

Illya's body lurched into the air, the movement of the ever-familiar skill Slam taking hold. She bounded over several goblins and landed in the center of the horde, cutting a goblin in half. There wasn't any gore like she was used to, which was a welcome relief as she turned her axe sideways.

It shone like a bloody red light.

" **Onslaught**."

Illya swung her axe around her like a whirlwind of death. For each enemy she struck, an icon appeared in her menu, signifying an increase in attack power.

Such was the effect of the Onslaught skill, the strongest attack a two-handed Guardian can have. It provided a buff if the attack was successful, sometimes it was a defense buff and other times it was an attack buff. Truly a random side effect but one that Illya wasn't complaining about.

Once more Illya cast Slam to blast herself over the remaining goblins towards the Goblin Tamer.

In the meantime, Shirou parried a spear aiming for his heart and cleaved the head right off the attacker. At the same time, he kicked a nearby goblin away and severed the arm and leg of another goblin.

He wasn't used to fighting creatures as small as they were, but Kanshou and Bakuya's anti-monster properties aided him greatly. Goblins fell in a single sweep of his blades, as expected of a Noble Phantasm.

Eventually, the goblins chose not to attack him out of order as they usually did, charging at him one or two at a time. Instead, they swiftly encircled him and searched for any weak points in his defense.

They found them but Shirou knew that.

The fighting style he was borrowing exemplified the control and use of fake openings.

A fire ball the size of their television struck a bundle of goblins as an eager Rin stared them down. She didn't have as much mana as she would have liked, but she wasn't helpless in the slightest.

The cultist robes she wore gave her just a bit more mana regeneration, as much as it didn't make sense to the twin-tailed magus, so she was able to use just a bit more of her spells.

She was still conservative with her mana expenditure though. The fireball that she had sent out did not dissipate but instead curled around them like a spinning top, taking out any goblins that tried getting near.

Most did not die instantly, but the burns that they had alongside the impact of the orb momentarily sent them into a panic, more than enough time for the flaming sphere to return and deal the remaining damage.

"Do you need any healing?" Sakura asked, unsure of what she was supposed to do.

"Not really," Rin mentioned. "Do you have anything that deals with mana regeneration? I can make do with the one fireball but I'd like some more if possible."

Sakura scrolled through her list. "None so far. The closest level that I'd get something mana related would be at level thirty."

"Still a long way to go…" Rin muttered, reinforcing her leg and kicking a goblin's head off. "Well, these guys aren't tough at all so no need to worry there. Want to try killing something?"

Sakura pondered it, but once she glanced at the spiraling orb of fire destroying goblin after goblin, she shook her head. "You look like you have everything handled…"

Rin shrugged. "Alright then."

Illya cleaved through the last goblin standing in her way as she approached the Goblin Tamer. It growled in its native goblin tongue, the dire wolf under it doing much of the same.

She didn't really see it as a threat. She was well over it in levels thanks to the cultists she had killed yesterday, which brought her up to level sixty-nine, as degrading as that level sounded.

It was a monster so there was no use in discussion. She felt that it would have been too repetitive to use Slam again – not that she could see that it was on cooldown – so she opted to forgo skill usage altogether.

Once more she threw her axe, watching as it spun as fast as it could towards the Goblin Tamer. However, the high-level monster managed to dodge the whirling death and chose it as an opportune moment to charge at the supposedly defenseless adventurer.

 _Pffft, yeah right._

Once the Goblin Tamer was upon her, the dire wolf beneath it opened its gaping maw and prepared to crush the adventurer between its fangs.

Too bad Illya was at a higher level and had the benefit of reinforcement.

Instead of tearing into her and ripping her into shreds, the fangs shattered as Illya grabbed its skull, crushing it as well.

For a seemingly big boss monster, it sure was weak as hell. With the dire wolf dead, the Goblin Tamer might as well be a regular goblin. It reacted in pure surprise and confusion, not even retreating after witnessing the feat.

It gave Illya enough time to grab him by the throat and hoist him into the air. Soon after, she threw it down onto the stone floor and rose her iron boots over it –

"Bye bye."

– And crushed its skull, letting it burst out into rather harmless bubbles.

 _Hmm… Not as satisfying as humanoid mobs._

The goblins around her reacted once they noticed the fact that their supposed leader had perished, either squealing in confusion and terror or growling in hatred.

It didn't matter now.

"Shirou!" Illya shouted. "Don't let any of them escape out of the cave!"

Before the goblins noticed, Shirou had placed himself with a burst of reinforcement between them and the only exit.

Illya turned to a twin-tailed magus while catching her thrown axe, only now just returning to her. "Got a big explosion spell Rin?"

"Yeah! Do I use it?"

"Go for it!"

The goblins, seemingly being able to sense a huge accumulation of mana, charged at Rin in an attempt to stop whatever was going to occur, only to be met by a fiery death as the orb surrounding her prevented their approach.

It was even more apparent that they wouldn't be able to reach her when the orb of fire expanded into a wall of fire.

An orb of electricity, albeit small in comparison to the size the flaming orb had been originally, floated atop of Rin's fingertips. Embers of accursed wisps hovered about it, a clear sign that her ever favorite Gandr was also used in the spell's base structure.

Even though Sakura had pride in her sister, it didn't stop the exasperation that she felt when she saw that very same sister cackle like an evil villain.

"Take this!" She shouted, most likely in a rare display of sadistic glee. She raised the finger with the orb of electricity, not as her usual stance when using Gandr but as if she was about to flick it. " **Finn Volt**!"

As it turns out, the shape and apparent weightlessness the orb had translated well when you _flicked_ the orb towards the center of the goblin horde.

The moment the spell impacted a goblin, it imploded.

The orb spun in on itself and shrunk until it couldn't do so anymore before expanding outwards in a display of blinding light, overshadowing the brightness that Illya's own fluffy ball provided.

When the light died down, there were only bubbles of experience left behind.

"Well, that worked better than expected," Rin commented, as she tried to blink away the few dancing dark spots in her vision. "Although, if I had controlled the output more then it would have a longer charge time and a larger radius. Something to work on later I suppose."

"How much mana did that take you, Nee-san?"

"All my remaining mana," She shamelessly said. "But don't worry, the firewall doesn't really require mana to keep going."

Illya felt her eyebrow twitch as she approached the rambling magus. "… and why is that?"

"If I keep the mana within the spell active, then I have full control over its shape, form, and radius until the mana within the spell itself runs out," Rin informed. "I could've kept the firewall going for maybe half a minute or so."

Illya just stared at her.

"Right…"

At this point, she just learned to live with it.

She still got a headache from it though.

"Illya," _Oh, that was Shirou calling._ "Come and look at this."

Illya turned on her heel and headed to her older brother, only to blink in subtle confusion as he was standing right next to where she had killed the Goblin Tamer.

"What is it?" Rin asked as she walked over, Sakura following behind as she cast a helpful **Heal** on Illya, as meager as it was.

Shirou leaned down and picked something up. He held it out towards them with a wry frown.

It was a piece of paper with scribbles on it.

"Is this… supposed to be a monster drop?" Rin asked as she winced, trying to understand what it was. "The guy dropped a bunch of scribbles. That's… nice?"

Illya looked at it and shrugged. "I have no idea what it is. It might be a rare drop so keep a hold on it. Maybe someone else will know."

Shirou nodded and placed it in his inventory.

Sakura gazed around the now empty cavern.

"I guess we continue farming?" Sakura suggested.

They had gained a few levels from that whole endeavor, especially from Illya's kill. They were all at level eighteen – with the exception being Sakura at level fifteen – thanks to the EXP boost the potion provided, but it could have been greater if Illya reduced her level.

No use in complaining over spilled milk, Illya supposed. They had still gained quite a few levels from it, so it was all fine and dandy.

At the shrugs of agreement, Illya nodded and prepared to plan a path to the nearest farming zone until the sound of her inbox dragged her attention.

Out of curiosity, Illya opened it up to read the message.

"So," Rin asked. "Where are we going next?"

"Change of plans," Illya said, looking over the message again. It was sent from her former guild master Woodstock, so it had some reliable credibility to it. "We're heading back to Akihabara."

"Why?" Rin complained. "The potion is still running. It'd be a waste to leave now!"

Illya looked at the message for a final time, making sure she had not misread the message, before closing her menu.

A smile took hold.

"This is far more important."

After all, _that person_ was back in town.

 _The Villain in Glasses._

* * *

Atop the clouds, wyverns flew free and unimpeded. No foolish adventurer had come close to them, as was intended.

Here, they ruled. So long as no adventurers decided to sign their pledge of death, all would be well.

Those were the thoughts of the dragonic creatures, perched on the side of the mountain or soaring above the clouds. All of them focused on nothing but their leisure and the possibility of adventurers harming them.

So it was a no-brainer that they ignored the metal bird flying through their skies.

It made no sound and no other creature – be they animal or monster – gave it a second glance. It flew unimpeded towards an unseen direction. Over the clouds, over the mountains, and over the forests that others would have traveled through to reach its destination.

After countless hours of continuous flight, the bird descended beneath the cloud line, revealing a mystical city. One covered in enchanted ice as far as the eye could see, an Ancient Palace of Eternal Ice.

This was its destination, the capital of Eastal's league of free cities, Maihama, or rather within the palace of ice.

The bird dove and flapped its semi-mechanical wings, preventing the package beneath its clawed feet from swaying very often. It entered the palace, once more being ignored by the creatures and Landers that lived within its walls.

Once the bird flew towards its destination, a mystical library filled to the brim with knowledge both past and present, only then did it rest. It sat upon the mailbox filled with unread letters and invitations, watching as none of the Lander maids and servants batted an eye as they walked past it.

The Landers ignored it, but there was only one that did not.

A veil of fog rippled beside the mailbox, allowing a hunched robed figure to step out of it. He gazed in curiosity at the amalgamation of metal and unknown magic staring back at him.

" _Excuse me, are you the Sage of Miral Lake, Regan?_ " The bird spoke, yet its mouth did not move. Only a gem on its chest shined brightly with the voice. " _This automaton will only accept yes or no as an answer._ "

The hunched figure stared, his fingers twitching and clasping together in a form of unhindered and unadulterated excitement at the unknown creation before him.

Oh dear… was he breathing hard again? Judging from the smoke he let out from his nostrils… Yes, he was certainly doing so.

"Yes…" He intoned, breath racing once more in long forgotten excitement. "I am Regan, the one who inherited the title of Sage of Miral Lake… and _what_ exactly are you…?"

* * *

 **A/N: THAT'S A WRAP. I FINALLY GOT THIS CHAPTER OUT BEFORE THE MONTH ENDED! (Ignore the fact that its literally the last day of the month of October) Part of the reason the chapter came out this late (early?) was that I liked farming in Warframe and FGO (Why does my phone always struggle to update Oniland?). That's it, I got no other excuse (Other than the fact I decided to finally play Skullgirls).**

 **It's a bit shorter than the previous juggernauts, which is probably why it came out in time... ugh. This chapter was meant to ease the story into the next arc so that it doesn't seem jarring. This chapter set something up for later but I'll let you guess what it is. It's pretty obvious, kinda.**

 **Also, as you can see we have a new cover. The Logo is missing because my brother outsourced that for a friend to do, he doesn't like doing logos. If you can give your honest feedback about it, that'd be appreciated. Also feedback about the chapter itself because that's how an Author improves, one of the perks of uploading online by chapter as opposed to the regular writer formats I guess.**

 **The next chapter will be next month as always so I guess that's it–**

 _ ***Looks and sees that my semester break ends in a few days***_

 **Ah... well, it was fun while it lasted.**

 **Kappa**


	9. Chapter 9: One with the Land

**Chapter 9**

 **Beta: Worldbringer of Joseun**

 **Cover: LousGndiner**

* * *

It took a while, but they eventually returned from their small and unusual stint into the goblin-infested caves. Illya had immediately told them that they could go and do whatever they wanted for the remainder of the day, which wasn't much seeing as it was already two in the afternoon.

In hindsight, having their own clock built into their inventory was very useful. Especially for Rin, who seemed to never trust traditional clocks anymore, something about clocks being an hour ahead or behind.

Speaking of the magus, Rin had decided to drag Sakura along to meet Ferlna properly, even though they told her that they met when purchasing her old sorcerer robes.

Not that the magus listened, so Sakura couldn't really refuse.

With the newly acquired free time, Shirou decided to head over the Melhia and Meltraus to get some extra work done. If any of his family needed to contact him, then he was only a single message away.

It didn't take him long before he arrived at Meltraus' forge, but immediately he noticed something odd. The doors to the forge had been locked and sealed, the stall up front was closed with a sign saying so, and the smoke clouds that would normally appear from a forge were absent as well.

 _Had they closed the forge for today?_

That didn't make sense. Today wasn't a weekend, not if his internal clock and calendar were any indication. As far as Shirou knew, they had beds somewhere at the back, so they practically lived at the forge. Did that mean that they left for an errand?

Again, that didn't make sense... The last time they went on an errand out of town, it was just Meltraus that left. As for their most recent errand, Shirou had left with Melhia to the marketplace, but even then, she could have gone alone like she said she usually did.

Shirou turned to the neighboring stall, which had a blond and tanned Lander sitting on a stool, selling a couple of trinkets and talismans. He wasn't sure what they were, but there was a hint of magical energy coming from them.

"Excuse me," Shirou began. "Is there a chance that you know where Master Meltraus went?"

The Lander gave him a glance and began to answer. However, before the Lander could even speak, Shirou noticed the not-so-subtle glare that the Lander had given.

"Meltraus' apprentice, aren't you?" He asked, to which Shirou nodded. Another subtly hidden sneer came along. "Yeah, he went out with his daughter a while ago. Don't know where-"

"Ten Talismans of Warding!"

Shirou blinked and glanced beside him, where an adventurer had waltzed up and interrupted.

Shirou immediately frowned.

The Lander mumbled something to himself, obviously annoyed at the interloper, and grabbed a stack of talismans from under his stall, and shoved it towards the adventurer.

The Lander sighed. "That'll be fifty gold-"

The adventurer didn't even acknowledge him as he tossed a bag towards the Lander, ignoring the fact that he missed by a mile and the gold bag landed on a previously arranged stack of paper.

The flutter of paper came as the neat stack tumbled down like a house of cards.

Shirou felt his ears burn. "Hey! Get back here!"

But the adventurer didn't even acknowledge him and simply walked away.

Shirou found himself gritting his teeth in irritation. "HEY–!"

"Leave it be," the Lander interjected, a sigh escaping him. "Calling that adventurer out won't do anything. Damn adventurers..."

Shirou wanted to disagree, to chase the rude adventurer down and make him realize what he did. Wasn't this the Japanese server? What happened to the polite respect that they were all taught?

In the end, Shirou decided that it would just be better to help out the Lander, seeing as the offending adventurer had already turned a street corner.

"Are you alright? Do you need any help?" Shirou asked, stepping closer to the Lander, ready to provide aid at a moment's notice.

"No, I'm fine… "The Lander muttered, picking up the fallen slips of paper and arranging them once more.

It only took a second to gaze into the Lander's eyes. Shirou saw anger, contempt, irritation... and strangely, acceptance.

That only caused Shirou to worry more.

"Are you sure…?" He muttered, somewhat confused and unsure.

"Anyway," The Lander started once more, seemingly ignoring what Shirou said and what had just happened. "I don't know where Meltraus and his daughter went. You'll have to ask someone else."

Shirou found his brow twitching. "Hey, are you okay with what just happened? I'm certain that if I had just gotten that adventurers attention-"

"Nothing would have changed, absolutely nothing." The Lander interrupted with his narrowed gaze focused on him. "You adventurers never listen anymore. You're probably different from them, lad… but all the others aren't. All they do is eat, kill, sleep. You lot don't even help out when we need it anymore." He sighed and went back to his stool, gazing out of the store once more.

Once more, with his gaze filled with begrudging acceptance.

"But thanks, I guess, for trying."

… _This isn't right._

It was only when Shirou walked away from that Lander that he finally noticed that his begrudging acceptance wasn't something unique to him alone.

When Shirou walked away and down the marketplace, he found all the Landers sharing that same gaze of increasing irritation, all the while the adventurer populace around them barely even noticed.

They barely noticed the storm brewing over their heads.

 _This... isn't right._

* * *

"This way, Sakura! Try to keep up!" Rin called as she swerved around Landers and adventurers alike, making her way to the Arcadia

"Wait a moment, Nee-san!" Sakura called as she hurriedly tried to keep up, bobbing under large wooden stacks that a Lander's carriage carried. She also kept an eye on the wolf pup hidden within her clothing.

Rin recalled that there wasn't any need to hide the pup at all, if the old ghost's words were anything to go by, but didn't really seek to correct her sister's behavior.

In the end, Sakura could do what she wanted. Rin certainly was, that was why she dragged her sister this far already.

It wasn't like Sakura could go anywhere else anyway, with Shirou heading off to those blacksmiths and Illya returning to the guild hall. Their little training montage had come to an end, but Rin didn't really mind.

Although Rin did slow down her pace in consideration.

"Are you sure we're going in the right direction?" Sakura asked as she finally caught up to her sister in stride. "Shouldn't we have followed Senpai on our way there? The locations are close by after all…"

Rin snorted. "Don't worry, Sakura. We're already here!"

Sakura took a moment to blink, which Rin found amusing, to gaze at the building next to her. "Oh… but I didn't recognize the path?"

"There's another back alley that we went through, didn't realize?" Rin asked.

"Back alley…?" Sakura muttered. "But we went through a crowded road, didn't we?"

True, the 'road' that Sakura mentioned was right next to the Arcadia – in between it and the usual large, withered, and vine-infested building – so it wasn't really noticeable to the common eye.

"Apparently, the back alley over there is used a lot by locals as a shortcut to the market district," Rin informed. "You notice a lot of things looking out the Arcadia's window."

Not even bothering to knock, Rin shoved open the door and let the doorbell announce her arrival.

As always, Ferlna was at her seat by the counter, tending to a few customers– hang on. Those weren't adventurers, they were Landers.

Did the Landers buy things here too? Maybe some of them ran out of firestones for the winter… No, they shouldn't be purchasing those now, seeing as it's soon to be summer. Maybe herbs?

When Rin made her abrupt entrance, the Landers gave her a single glance… and sneered?

Despite Rin's growing indignant irritation, she kept both a tight lip and a steady gaze as a few of the Landers whispered something to Ferlna. In that brief moment, she saw her friend's brow twitch barely noticeably as if mirroring Rin's own irritation.

It didn't take long after that for the Landers to leave, with Rin stepping to the side to allow them some leeway out. Sakura did so as well, but she smiled as she did so, appearing as kind as she always was, even when the Landers failed to return it.

Rin waited only a few seconds after the door closed to open her mouth.

"So, what was that about?" Rin asked bluntly. "Is it another one of those research requests or something?"

Ferlna sighed audibly, sending a curious look to Sakura afterward. "Something like that... and this is?"

"Oh, right," Rin muttered. "This is my little sister. You might have met her before."

"Hello!" Sakura greeted with a bow. "My name is Sakura, it's nice to meet you again, Ferlna-san!"

Ferlna took a short glance at the polite yet cheerful girl. She narrowed her eyes as she looked between the two of them. She didn't see any resemblance between them, but just chalked the relation up to being an adventurer quirk... especially in the chest area.

Fortunately, Rin didn't realize her friend's thoughts.

"It is good to meet you," Ferlna reciprocated. "I recall that you were here last time with a swashbuckler and a guardian. I assume that you are all a part of the same guild?"

Sakura nodded. "Yes, that's right!"

Ferlna let out a slight non-committal hum of interest, not that Sakura noticed.

Rin audibly coughed to grab their attention. "Now that introductions are out of the way... do you mind explaining what that meeting with all those Landers earlier was about?"

The way Ferlna opened her mouth to speak, only to pause as words failed to escape her, told the two sisters a lot. She eventually just sighed and pressed onwards.

"There will be a meeting in the heart of the market district later on. They were wondering whether or not I would attend." She began to rub her forehead in irritation. "Apparently, it's a meeting about what we, as the Landers that live in Akihabara, intend to do for the betterment of this city. To get rid of or deal with certain aspects that trouble us."

Rin narrowed her eyes.

"… That's it? No, that's not it, not all of it. There's something else. Something that caused you to worry, isn't there?" Rin asked. After all, there was no need to hesitate in that specific statement unless…

Rin widened her eyes as the realization struck her.

"I see that you realized it," Ferlna muttered.

Sakura frowned as the pup sitting in her cleavage whined, prompting her to ruffle it's fur just a bit. She really did need to name him… or was he a she? "Um… What would be a cause for worry?"

Rin ignored the way that Ferlna's eyes widened at the wolf pup within Sakura's robes.

"Landers usually live their lives headstrong without care, there are only two variables that cause a Lander to inherently worry," Rin began. "The first are monsters. They kill and plunder Landers with ease unless said Lander had some form of training, which means they have to rely on adventurers for protection." She narrowed her eyes once more. "The second, are adventurers themselves."

Sakura nodded as she took in the information.

"In a meeting of Landers, within a city where we need not worry about the monsters lurking outside the boundaries…" Ferlna added. "… what would we worry about? What is our issue? The answer is obvious."

With the information she received, there was truly only one answer.

"The issue is us," Sakura concluded. "The Landers are meeting together to deal with adventurers."

* * *

Illya sighed as she ran her armored hands all over her face.

She had gone over to the guild building in order to locate where the Strategist of the Debauchery Tea Party had gone. When she didn't find him, she went around asking certain people where he was, who regarded her some odd looks, but a few odd looks were arguably a worthwhile trade-off.

So, with that in mind, she roamed and roamed the guild building.

It was only when she managed to find that odd guild master with a huge rack – Marielle if Illya remembered her name correctly – that the woman had told her something very important. That something being that The Villain in Glasses was far too busy for a simple meeting with others, but he did mention that he'd be available at a later date if it was important enough.

While that was ultimately a good thing, it took a lot from Illya to not rant at all her wasted effort, walking around and wasting a few hours of her day to follow a lead. It was all a huge complete waste of time!

 _This sucks._

No, she was not pouting. She was simply expressing her displeasure with a frown, nothing more.

Might as well check up on Krentelfal. He should be in our guild room or something.

Since Illya was still in the building, it didn't take long at all to find her way into her guild room. She didn't bother to even knock on the door before she opened it up, not seeing the need to.

In hindsight, knocking on the door is a habit she should start making.

Why? Because the first thing she saw when she opened the door was the old ghost floating upside down.

He didn't seem to have any sign of discomfort at the act whatsoever, with a journal also upside down as he wrote something on it with a quill. The ink for that quill was from the inkwell on the table, which he occasionally poked at with the quill to wet it.

Illya had no idea where he obtained any of these things.

"Krentelfal," Illya found herself calling out. "… What are you doing?"

"Hmm? Oh, Illya!" The old codger finally realized someone had opened the door. "Wonderful timing! Would you mind imparting just a bit of your time to listen? Do not worry, this shall not take long."

… Well, it's not like Illya had anything better to do. It was far too late into the day to consider heading back to level up her guild some more anyway.

"Alright, sure. What do you need?"

Krentelfal rotated midair to make himself upright. "You see, it has only just occurred to me that, while we took care of the cultists and prevented a possible catastrophe, there is still something that needs to be tended to. If you could please take out his armor?"

 _Tulius' armor?_

Illya wasn't really sure about listening to the request, seeing as the old codger could decide to take it back or something… but she already agreed earlier.

Illya opened up her inventory and dragged the armor pieces out. Tulius' chest plate, his greaves, his gauntlets, and his helmet.

Elder Tale had an odd quirk in their armor set system. If you look at your character page, then you'll only see a single piece of armor, such as the guardian's usual 'Knight Castle Armor'.

That was how it has always had been, likely to reduce the effort it took to acquire or code in the gear. It would likely have been tedious to code individual armor pieces with their own individual stats… then again, Illya didn't have a background in coding so it could've just been out of sheer laziness.

However, in order to get that armor, you needed four of its pieces to craft together. The better the craftsman skill, the better the stats of the resulting armor would be.

Of course, you could equip all the pieces separately, but then you wouldn't be able to use the set bonuses at all. Hence, why crafting guilds with skilled craftsman were in high demand.

"Wonderful!" Krentelfal cheered to himself for reasons Illya can't comprehend. "You see, Tulius' armor, while being vastly superior pieces of equipment, cannot actually be forged together."

"Ah, I see…"

…

… _Wait, what!?_

"What!?"

"Now, now, calm yourself," Krentelfal prompted, not doing much to quell Illya's raging confusion. "You see, the smith that originally bound his armor together was Tulius' closest friend. This blacksmith, while a woman, was a craftswoman whom Tulius had trusted above all else, not only due to their shared camaraderie but due to the vastly superior skill the blacksmith possessed."

Krentelfal grabbed the pair of gauntlets and held it above him as if to study it. "Notice how, even after all these centuries, there is no damage present nor are there any hints of degradation in the steel…"

Illya listened closely, more out of slight respect and tolerance, and noticed that the ghost seemed to be reminiscing, almost as if he was lost in a memory.

"… to mine own knowledge, there are no smiths in the current era that are capable of binding Tulius' armor once more," Krentelfal explained before placing the gauntlets back down. "In fact, thou would need to scour the world itself for a smith with such skill. The closest smiths to her skill were the adventurers at the time, and even then, none of them came close to the plateau she had reached."

"Do you think that it's possible that there'll be any blacksmiths that can remake the armor in the future?" Illya asked with frustration leaking from her tone.

He turned to Illya with an apologetic smile. "If a smith with such skill catches mine eye, then I shall let thee know."

Illya took a moment to collect her thoughts and sighed.

In hindsight, it wasn't so bad. Even if she managed to combine the armor set, she wouldn't be able to equip it without being at the utmost maximum level, like 90 or higher.

This meant that Illya would have until then to find a blacksmith capable of combining the pieces, which she had no idea where she would even start looking.

Eh, maybe her brother would end up becoming a good enough smith to forge the armor together. She certainly had enough faith for something like that to happen. After all, her brother hadn't let her down – hadn't let any of them down – during the Grail War, and she didn't think that he planned to do so any time soon.

"Right, until then," Illya continued after her long ponder. "I'll just keep the armor pieces in the bank where they'll be safe."

"I see… The Kunie clan honor in their word is infallible, they shall keep the pieces safe without question," Krentelfal mused. "Very well, that is all I had to part with thee. Thou may do as thee wish."

Illya snorted as she made her way to the door. "Not that there's anything for me to do right now–"

It was at that moment that Illya received a message from her brother, and shortly after, a message from Rin. One said that something was odd with the townspeople and that the relations between Lander and adventurer were worsening.

Classical Shirou, always seeing people in need and wanting to help them. Illya was going to send him a message to just move on, but then she opened Rin's message…

"Oh for fuck's sake."

"Language, Illya."

"No time to worry about language. Follow me, we're going to the Arcadia!"

Her growing headache was the least of her worries now.

 _Landers and adventurers– everyone is losing their damn minds!_

* * *

Ferlna had watched as the Mage she respected pivot around the store in thought, her sister in the meantime, had seated herself on a pile of books with no issue.

Normally she'd be infuriated at the lack of care shown to those books, but since those were books that both she and Magi Tohsaka disregarded as nonsense, she didn't care as much.

By the curtain covered window stood the Magi' guild master, who had brought along an apparition with her. A ghost that bore armor very reminiscent of the far distant past.

Ferlna noted that this ghost seemed to be staring off into the distance, somewhat bored no doubt, but the guild master was very much focused on Tohsaka Rin as she roamed the floor.

The adventurer was considering all the options that they had, which was something that Ferlna had no doubt in. So when Rin suddenly sighed and took a seat on another pile of literary rubbish, the Lander was admittedly surprised.

"Okay, I got nothing else," The twin-tailed sorcerer found herself saying.

"Don't worry Nee-san, at least we have one way out of this!" The sister enthusiastically cheered. "The other Landers might even try to rehabilitate the other adventurers, maybe?"

Ferlna deeply wished she could agree, but with how the current Lander sentiments are, she wasn't so sure.

It was at that moment that the door opened up to reveal a swashbuckler, one that Ferlna recognized from almost a week ago. He walked inside with an apologetic expression.

"Sorry everyone, I got held up," The swashbuckler said. "A granny dropped her bag and–"

"– And then you helped her, that's fine," Their guild master rattled off as she interrupted her guild member. "Just find a pile of books to take a seat, or stand. The sooner we get this over with, the better. Krentelfal, lock the door."

As the swashbuckler – whose name eludes Ferlna – took a seat, thankfully beside Sakura and on the useless pile, their guild master walked to the center of the bookstore and let out a puff of breath from her nostrils, clearly frustrated.

"So before we begin, does anyone have anything else to add?"

Ferlna found her arm raised before she knew why. A moment later and she remembered. "Why are you all debating within my store?"

"Because you aren't allowed in the guild building," Their guild master answered quickly. "You're just as important. I'll explain later."

"Totally not foreboding," Rin mused with some hint of lighthearted sarcasm.

"Having a Lander meeting about adventurers is, admittedly, a huge concern for us," Illya started. "We need to know what's the topic of the meeting, so the smartest thing to do is get a Lander we can trust to get in and tell us about it later."

"… But why Ferlna-san?" Sakura asked. "How about Melhia-chan and her father?"

"I couldn't find them today. They must be busy elsewhere." The swashbuckler said.

"Or it's because they're already invited to the meeting and went ahead," Illya interjected.

"Meltraus is the most respected blacksmith in the city, so it makes sense for him to be invited…" Ferlna added with an absentminded nod. "However, I would doubt that he or his daughter would even be capable for the job you have in mind."

The swashbuckler nodded. "Infiltration would require a calm and rational mind… Meltraus is a stoic but emotional man. That's the impression I have from my apprenticeship with him."

 _Meltraus has an adventurer apprentice!?_

"Melhia-chan too I guess…" Sakura muttered, ignoring Ferlna's look of surprise. "I guess we will have to rely on Ferlna-san."

"She'll be fine," Rin vouched, only lending the Lander a single brow for her surprised reaction. "I trust her, so that should be fine, right? It's not like it's going to be dangerous anyway."

"But does she want to actually attend?" The swashbuckler said as he admirably came to her defense, as futile as the act is. "It wouldn't be right to force her to do it."

"That is true… What do I get out of this ordeal?" Ferlna muttered as she gauged the reactions of each of the adventurers in the room.

"I'm helping you with your research," Magi Tohsaka pointed with a small and polite smile that held a much more sinister presence behind it. "If you want me to keep doing so, then I suppose you'll have to listen, right?"

 _Typical of her, truly._

In hindsight, Ferlna should have expected that... especially considering the interaction they had only a few days ago.

"Nee-san!" Sakura berated. "We can't just threaten her!"

"I'm in agreement," The swashbuckler agreed. "We can at least offer some sort of compensation or something."

"I dunno, the gun to the head approach kinda works," Illya pointed out. Ferlna would have to ask what a 'gun' is in the future, but from what it implied, it didn't sound like anything good.

Sensing the incoming argument, Ferlna sighed lightly in inevitable resignation.

"It is fine, I suppose," Ferlna semi-reluctantly agreed. "I was going to attend that meeting anyway. It wouldn't bode well for me to ignore the state of the city that I live in."

"Yup, gun to the head always works." The guild master chimed.

Rin snorted. "That, and Ferlna owes me for helping her with her research."

 _You're working with her for her brilliant mind Ferlna… keep it in mind._

"… Magi Tohsaka, we've barely started with the research."

"Eh, advanced payment."

"Rin. If anything, we're the ones who'll have to pay her back."

Magi Tohsaka suddenly wore a sadistic grin. "Shirou, has anyone told you that you're absolutely terrible at business deals–?" _Oh, so his name was Shirou?_ "–Because you absolutely are."

"Well, we don't keep him around for his trading skills that's for sure," Their master idly threw out there.

"Illya, really? You're worse than me at shopping."

"Not my fault that the Einzberns wouldn't let me learn anything other than the Holy Grail War– oh yeah, does Ferlna over there know what the grail wars are or something?"

"Nah, don't worry about it," Rin waved off both Illya question and Ferlna's own inquiring gaze. "You should probably get going Ferlna, don't want to be late for the meeting after all."

Just as Ferlna was about to do so, Sakura raised her hand with a question.

"Just a thought, but wouldn't it be suspicious if some Landers saw a bunch of adventurers waiting in the shop?" Sakura pointed out.

"But we need to be here so that Ferlna can tell us about it later," Illya argued. "We can just use some hypnotism, no biggie."

 _Hypnotism?_

Ah… of course. Magi Tohsaka had mentioned that their 'magi' had either inducted or slain people who learned of their existence. There must have been a much more pacifistic side that developed a form of mental editing to erase their memories of magic.

Ferlna found this alternative to be much more pleasing than outright murder.

"Still, what if we miss someone?" Sakura pushed forth. "We should head back to our guild and let Ferlna tell us in the morning."

"The sooner we receive info, then the sooner we can react," Illya argued.

"I'm kinda with Sakura on this one. It'd be damaging to Ferlna's reputation with the other Landers if she was caught with us." Rin pointed out.

Before their argument could escalate, the ghost near the entrance coughed for their attention. "Might I be so bold as to offer a solution?"

Illya rubbed her forehead and sighed. "Sure, go ahead Krentelfal."

"I have the ability to both become intangible and hidden to the average Lander's eye," The ghost, whose name Ferlna learned was Krentelfal, pointed out. "I will be able to hide away and listen in on the meeting for you all. All I need is miss Ferlna to act as a guide and all will be well."

Ferlna could only blink.

"Good idea!" Illya applauded. "We'll go with that. Once we head back to our guild, Ferlna over here can lead you to the meeting. It's almost foolproof!"

"It hinges on sir Krentelfal not being seen," The swashbuckler, named Shirou if Ferlna recalled correctly, pointed out. "We can't afford to be careless."

"I am well aware of the risks involved, brother of Illya," The ghost replied easily. "Have faith and fear not, for I was never the first to be spotted in battle!"

"Probably because you were at the back or something," Rin muttered, surprising Ferlna with the pettiness.

"We are not having another argument," Illya declared. "Remember the plan you two, we're heading back."

"Farewell, my friends!" Krentelfal waved, but even Ferlna could tell that it was only Illya and Sakura waving back at him as they left.

"Good luck you two!" Rin wished.

"Be careful!" Sakura wished as well, albeit unnecessary.

The swashbuckler Shirou only bowed before leaving the ghost and her alone in the Arcadia.

She let out a calming breath.

"Well then," Ferlna found herself saying. "It'll take a few minutes to close up shop. Do you mind waiting?"

Krentelfal simply chuckled. "I've waited for years on end before, just a little bit now wouldn't make a difference."

It didn't take very long before Ferlna locked the front door with Krentelfal hovering unseen behind her.

 _The things she did for Magi Tohsaka._

* * *

Krentelfal hovered behind the woman known as Ferlna.

He quietly kept up with her, noting the path he had traveled was towards the Lander segment of the market district, if what he heard from passersby were true.

Lady Ferlna had not said a word so Krentelfal opted to do much of the same. He kept his body invisible to the naked eye, surprising himself at the fact that he hadn't even drawn the slightest bit of notice from even the adventurers.

He must have underestimated himself, the constant draw of mana he was getting from lady Illya was truly an act of miracles.

Through numerous twists and turns, past the cages with chicken and the stalls with much friendlier Lander to Lander banter, until finally, they arrived at the heart of the district.

There were vigils surrounding the outside, ready to alert them to disperse as soon as an adventurer would make their way into the district. Numerous Landers, whom Krentelfal did not recognize, surrounded a heightened podium, where a speaker's voice would be amplified for others to listen.

This would be problematic… it would indeed help if he knew who each of them were to offer a detailed report to lady Illya.

"… The head smith Meltraus to the far left of us…" He heard Ferlna mutter. She was aiding him! Such a smart lady. "… Three great merchants to the center right. Drudgel of the north, Edgar of the south, and Tomtom of the center."

Krentelfal nodded, but only just realized that she wouldn't know if he replied. He would have tapped her shoulder, but he didn't know what that act would have served.

"Settle down everyone!" A large portly man called, Shipyard master Sen as Ferlna informed him. "Speaker Ashe of the Eve-marrow Inn will start us off!"

The portly man left the stage as a new man, one wearing a simple brown tunic with a white stained apron atop of it. He had brown hair that stretched below his back and a stern frown on his face.

"Fellow Landers, today we gather to discuss the recent changes to our fair town." He began, voice echoing loudly across the center of the district. "It has been about a week ever since the adventurers all around us began their sudden change! They have become lethargic, panic-stricken, and above all inexcusable!"

Krentelfal frowned. It didn't sound good so far.

"Holler if you ever heard of the term, N P C–"

A surge of cries came forth in unison. The entirety of the square having heard of it, and from what Krentelfal could see, none of them wore smiles on their faces.

"Aye, we have all heard it before from the mouths of these adventurers…" The speaker solemnly continued. "It took me a long time before I realized what it meant, before one of those adventurers let it slip. It means Non-Player Character. It means that we are not like them! It means that they do not see us as people of the land! They do not respect us!"

A surge of boos came out of the crowd.

 _It really didn't seem good at all._

"Adventurers spit in our faces! They no longer respect us as they once did ages ago! The crown has remained silent, their scholars have not found a solution! So what is it that we should do!?"

"We fight!"

"We show them who we are!"

"Yeah! This is our city too!"

"Aye, aye, aye! Aye to all of you!" He bellowed. "We suffered long enough! No longer shall they extort us! No longer shall they refuse to do their jobs! They may be adventurers, but we are the people of the land– nay, the people of _this_ land! We will not tolerate this any longer!"

A torrent of cheers of agreement followed soon, bringing a slow frown to Krentelfal's face. While he agreed with their sentiments, especially after witnessing the state of the once proud 'adventurers' of ages past simply loitering across the streets… he could not help but worry about the direction this was going to take.

"And what exactly do you suppose we do about it!?"

A new voice, belonging to Meltraus if he recalled correctly, cut into the sea of cheers and applause with ease. "If you recall, we are Landers, not adventurers! They are stronger than us, it'd do you all well to remember that."

Ashe, the speaker at the center, apparently disagreed with the frown on his face. "Meltraus, have you and the rest of the smiths not forged armor and weapons to aid us in this?"

"Aid in battle, yes," Meltraus replied easily as he stepped to the stage. "But aid in suicide? No. I am not so foolish to do so. Don't think that I don't know where the surplus of steel sword requests came from, Ashe. This is a battle that we will lose."

A strong humph came soon after. "Not to mention unprofitable."

Stepping to the stage next was a buff and strong man, almost similar to Meltraus in that regard, yet he still held youth in his eyes along with flowing blond hair. Donned in the clothes of a merchant, this was Drudgel of the north.

"If we go to war like this with the adventurers, then we won't just lose our lives, but all of our money and belongings," He reminded. "Not to mention, even if we do manage to win in some kind of fantasy, the adventurers cannot die. They will never fall in battle permanently, and when they come back, they will eradicate us."

"Always the logical coward aren't you Drudgel?"

Drudgel immediately frowned as he saw someone else step to the stage. He wore similar clothes to Drudgel, yet it was much more… refined. He had no hair on his head, but he had enough of a mustache to cover his own mouth.

"Edgar, what are you on about?"

Edgar of the south smirked from under the mustache. "I have dealt with adventurers more than any other Lander here, and I say that if we fight, then we should aim for where it will hurt! Not mindlessly attacking them, no, no, no, that would be unwise."

He pivoted on his heel and pointed off into the distance, each of his hands in a separate direction. "The Cathedral in which they come back from, or the guild which they find invaluable!"

Numerous murmurs spread across the crowd as their eyes showed consideration, even as Krentelfal's own widened in mute horror.

"Are you insane!?" Meltraus shouted. "Do you even remember why the adventurers exist in the first place? They are here to protect us from the monsters that reside outside of our very walls! The beasts that seek to tear us apart piece by piece! Without the adventurers, we will _perish_. No ifs or buts about it!"

"Yes, see reason!" Drudgel agreed vocally. "We should be seeking to peacefully rectify this situation. Talk with them, try to find mutual ground to debate with them, and maybe we will find a way to coexist as we once did."

Ashe snorted. "Fat load that'll do! Do you think I haven't tried? Every adventurer that has ventured into my inn, I try to talk to them. Find what's wrong so that maybe I could help, but what do I get in return?"

He placed a hand on each of his hips and spoke in a high-pitched voice. "'Oh shut up you fucking NPC!' That is what I get every day! These adventurers are nothing but slobs now!"

"To talk with them, we require an equal footing," Krentelfal widened his eyes when he realized that it was Ferlna who spoke out. "They are just frightened and frustrated at their current situation."

"Oh?" Edgar muttered, ruffling his large mustache as he did so. "Lady Ferlna, I did not realize that you would attend our meeting?"

"Thank the gods that she did…" A girl behind Meltraus muttered, most likely his daughter Melhia. "Could you elaborate, Ferlna?"

"Gladly," Ferlna uttered as she too stepped upon the stage. Krentelfal applauded the foresight of whoever decided the stage should be huge and wide enough to support a dozen people.

"I've conducted research and discovered that these adventurers are nothing more than children or young adults that have been seeing our world through avatars. Puppets that they control to see and view our world. At any time they could leave and return to their lives in their world without issue… However, on the day that we call the May Incident, they call the Apocalypse. Do you all know the reason?"

While a few of the Landers were lost, the major ones on stage shook their heads as they had followed without issue.

"It is because their avatars, their faux puppet bodies, had become their own. No longer could they return to their families in their own world, no longer can they live out their lives as they used to, but now they are trapped here in immortal bodies where death is not their final embrace," She sent a steady gaze to the crowd before her. "We are not seeing beings who are 'nothing but slobs' but something else. They are in despair. Only a few have managed to rise up and continue as adventurers should, but the majority have fallen into despair as they see no purpose to actively live out their lives."

"… Makes sense…" The innkeeper Ashe muttered. "It explains their behavior. I dunno about this different world stuff or what that even bloody means, but basically they want their mamas back?"

"So we're dealing with a childish tantrum?" Edgar mused.

"An oversimplification at best, sir Edgar," Ferlna chastised. "I support the notion of an attempt at mutual understanding. The sooner they see us as people they can truly rely upon, the better."

"And why is that?" Ashe blurted out.

"Because if they don't see us as people by the time they acclimate, then we won't be necessary to them anymore."

The stretch of silence that held the Lander crowd was long and heavy, but a frown from Meltraus managed to get the discussion back again.

"Elaborate," He half-ordered. "How much time before the adventurers finally get off their rears and do something."

"By the looks of it, from how their biggest guilds are moving out more and more, I'd say not long." Edgar mused. "They have been purchasing more and more materials from me. My stock is running low and I've only restocked a few days ago."

"Then shall we strike while the iron is hot?" Said a lanky elf wearing an oversized blacksmith's garb. He also had long hair fitting for an elf, yet there were singes marring its clean sheen.

"Halfas, I thought you were wiser than that." Meltraus berated.

"I am, old friend. That is why I propose that we begin getting these adventurers to recognize that we are people, that we are deserving of respect like they do each other," Halfas argued.

Ashe snorted. "They hardly even respect each other now. I don't know the specifics, but every night in my inn they argue about how they'll deal with the power struggles of the big guilds. It's a bloody nightmare I tell you."

"Do you propose a protest before their guild hall?" Edgar asked. "If we're not going to hit them where it hurts, then how will our voices be heard?"

"Simple, we stop treating them like adventurers."

 _Huh?_

"Huh? Has he lost it?"

"What the hell do you mean by that!?"

"Bloody elves, loony at their best and loony at their worst."

"Calm yourselves!" Sen bellowed, the shipmaster making a reappearance to keep the crowd controlled. "Halfas, if you might be so inclined to elaborate?"

"Alright~" Halfas sang with his usual playful attitude, bringing a sigh to Meltraus again like the elf always had. "It isn't just the adventurers that have been treating us like dirt, like we're different from them and unworthy of notice. We have been doing the same. We treat them like animals and keep away from them. The only times we do interact with them are when we antagonize them or dismiss them as quickly as possible~"

He twirled with a pivot of his heel. "It is possible that they too notice how we treat them, how they notice our mutual sense of exclusion~"

"But they're different!"

"They're adventurers!"

"And we are all Landers, are we not?" Halfas countered the crowd. "Are we not one with the land? Are we not the ones who _understand_ the land the most? Why not channel that understanding to these adventurers, these lost children who despair at the world around them? Hate begets hate, anger begets anger, and kindness begets kindness. Haven't our mothers taught us this?"

There was a mumble of agreements spread across the crowd, yet there were also hints of minor disagreement.

"We must prove ourselves better than them, if not physically, but spiritually!" Halfas said once more.

"You think kindness is going to get them to respect us like before?" Ashe spoke up. "Is that how they do it in your fantasy lands?"

"It is how I treat all beings, adventurer or Lander," Halfas declared. "The way I see it, from all the ideas and plans put forth, it's either mutual prosperity or destruction. I don't know about all of you, but I want our next generation to be in prosperity."

"So we just ignore it?" A man with alabaster skin and ginger hair stepped up wearing an apron. "We just have to ignore what they've done to us during this week? What they've done to our families and lives? Is this the solution you propose, elf?"

"Egburd," Drudgel warned. "There's not enough time for that now–"

"LIKE HELL THERE ISN'T!" The man named Egburd shouted, culling the merchant before he spoke. "Do not patronize me, or any of us! We can have our peace, but not until we get what we're due, what our families are due!"

"Until they treat us as people, we won't be getting it Egburd!" Drudgel argued fervently.

"They won't treat us equally! Not even our children!" He argued. "We have to show them that we're not some stain beneath their boots! Rolling over like lambs to the slaughter isn't going to help them look at us as equals, they'll look at us like tools!"

"Not like we haven't seen them like that once upon a time," Edgar mused with his usual apparent form of pragmatism. "I propose a compromise for us all. We prepare to attack their cathedral and guild hall, but only attack when they've proven to be beyond redemption. We will try and aid them like a doctor does her patients in the meantime. Is this agreeable for us all?"

The numerous grunts of agreement and nods did nothing to dissuade the notion.

"Well then, it looks like we've reached a conclusion," Edgar concluded. "It's getting late. I'm sure we'd all love to get back home to our wives for a little something 'special'. Shall we disband now, ship master Sen?"

The portly ship master returned to the stage and nodded. "The consensus! By the end of the month of June, if these adventurers have proven themselves to be a threat to our lives and the lives of our children, then we shall commence an attack. Until then, we shall all seek to aid them in our own ways. Dismissed!"

Slowly but surely, the crowd dispersed. Some people remained to shake hands or exchange farewells, but Krentelfal saw no need to do so and floated off, recalling the way he had previously entered and left the district.

Ferlna was left behind, but she would slowly but surely return home so no true worries there.

There was only one thing left to do.

 _Now… how shall he deliver the news to lady Illya?_

* * *

 **A/N: It is done!**

 **Honestly, this didn't need to take the entire month. The time spent writing was no different from previous uploads, but December was a VERY busy month. I've had exams, activities, holidays, gift purchasing, FGO farming, watching Spiderverse[9.5/10] and Aquaman[8/10], and a whole load more slue of details that I won't really cover.**

 **As you can see, we're getting into the meat of the new arc, of what I plan for the guild and co to do while the Crescent Moon Burger begins its infancy. I lost my draft so I worried even more, but luckily I recovered it by dragging it into my word folder. It's REALLY weird to find your file turn into "[Insert Original File Name]~[Some Random Letters and Numbers]", so if you ever happen to encounter it again, then you're gonna have to try googling an answer because I'm sure as hell that my solution wasn't the regular one.**

 **I don't have anything special planned here, but I'm offering my deepest and sincerest wishes to the family of Stan Lee. His departure was unexpected, but a sad truth to acknowledge. If I wrote a Marvel story then I'd make an Omake, but I'm not good at those and I'm not thinking of starting another story anytime soon. I already have my hands full with these two.**

 **That's it for now. The next chapter will be out sometime in February. I hope that I'll make a longer chapter than this when the time comes. Until then, I've got my hands full with rewriting scenes in my other story.**

 **Canon, I love and hate you.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Kappa.**


	10. Chapter 10: Illya

**Chapter 10**

 **Beta: Worldbringer of Joseun**

 **Cover: LousGndiner**

* * *

When morning arrived for Illya and the rest, the Emiya family sprung into motion.

And by that, Illya meant that her reliable elder brother had dragged her out of bed and made her take a bath. Even though their bodies didn't show signs of needing to be taken care of at all. Heck, they could probably go for days without eating.

The thought of that honestly horrified her. Why? Because she would never be able to taste her Onii-chan's wondrous cooking ever again! That damnable black paste plagued each and every single one of the family's attempts at making something edible!

None of Shirou's delicacies could be made, none of Sakura's home-cooked lunches, and none of Rin's Chinese dishes!

She hadn't even tried Rin's Chinese dishes yet!

Illya shook the thoughts out of her mind and sighed from her bed. To her side was her dearly beloved brother sitting on a chair. However, his focus was not on her – as it should be – but on the small dagger that he held in his hands.

The only table they had was littered with random items that the four of them had been gathering. There were elemental stones from Rin's experiments, some of which were purposely shattered or via accident, alongside several books that Rin managed to borrow from the Arcadia.

In fact, most of the table had Rin's things on it messily spread about. Illya didn't have any of her own items on the table, seeing as she had an inventory to hold everything for her anyway.

Shirou reached for the table and grabbed a thin slab of leather, with one side coated in what looks to be resin-based glue, and began slowly and carefully wrapping the sword's wooden handle with it.

Illya still didn't understand why he didn't just use the automatic forging that most classes had, but she inevitably chalked it up to Shirou simply being Shirou. He was a little dense when it came to certain things.

Sakura sat on her own bed and studied the mangy wolf pup before her, who was frolicking about on the youngest Tohsaka's bed and barking at who knows what.

"I really need a name for the little one…" Sakura muttered as she rubbed her chin absently. "Nee-san, what would you name him?"

Rin looked up from her bed where she was nose-deep into what looked to be a book about Elder Tale's lore. "Hmm, why don't you name it Koira?"

"That's just dog in Finnish, Rin," Illya pointed out.

"But it's a good name, isn't it?" She argued. "Well, Shirou? Do you think it's a good name?"

"Hmm," Shirou gave an unconvincing hum from where he sat, still wrapping the sword handle. "I don't know. Naming hasn't ever been my forte. What about Hrunting?"

"It's just swords and Noble Phantasms in your head, isn't it?" Rin grimaced. "Well, whatever. Name the mutt whatever you want, Sakura. That thing is your responsibility after all."

Sakura hummed once more. She gave the pup a long and stern glance, even as it rolled its head to the side and barked.

Sakura smacked her palm with an epiphany.

"I got it! Your name is–!"

"Terribly sorry to interrupt, but I assume that you are all awake?"

Illya looked away as Sakura jumped a bit in surprise and focused on the ghost phasing through the door. If he could do that in the first place, then why didn't he do so when they were clearing out cultist lairs?

"It's fine, Krentelfal," Illya replied as Sakura gave a small pout at being interrupted. Illya generally ignored it and focused on the ghost in the room. "So, what did you learn at the meeting?"

At the wince that the ghost gave, Illya knew she wasn't going to like the news.

Not one bit.

* * *

"… and that's it," The ghost finished. "I'm afraid that is the situation."

Illya grit her teeth and glared at the table before her, as if it was the cause for the pain and suffering that she had suffered throughout her life.

"That… that can't be right!"

The first one to break was Shirou, jumping from his bed with his finished sword placed away into his inventory.

"I'm afraid it is, sir Shirou," Krentelfal uttered. "While Lady Ferlna and the others beautifully stalled out the meeting and ensured a month-long window, the situation is still very dire."

"But it's–!"

"Stupid? Illogical? Completely insane?" Rin filled in, her book placed away for the last few minutes. "I agree, but that's human nature for you. I'm surprised it hasn't happened sooner. You know, with the way that most Landers are treated around here."

Shirou grit his teeth, but couldn't offer anything in retort.

Yes, it was stupid, incredibly so. Everyone in the room was in agreement of that fact… and yet, it was still intrinsically a part of human nature.

"… They were probably angry at us…" Sakura muttered as the puppy whimpered beside her. "Adventurers were making them suffer. Of course, not directly, but…"

"I get what you mean," Rin muttered. She raised her fingers and rubbed her temples. "This is a huge mess."

"Are we sure that there's no other way?" Shirou asked Krentelfal once more. "What if there's something we're overlooking, something that we're missing?"

"True, that meeting didn't sound long," Sakura agreed. "We do have a month. We can think something until the end of the month, right?"

At the break in conversation, Krentelfal turned to the Wolf Fang Guardian, whose gaze was shadowed by the lengthy locks of her hair. "What dost thou suggest, Lady Illya?"

All eyes focused on her, awaiting input. She hadn't really said anything the entire time the explanation of events was given to her, so the silence she was giving was unnerving, to say the least.

"… I think we should leave."

… _What?_

"What?" Rin blurted out, being the one to offer what they all collectively thought.

Illya felt the frustration pile up from under her as her brow twitched. Her head ached once more, but she pushed it aside.

"We should leave Akihabara," Illya pushed forth once more. "The situation here is dangerous. Once the Landers revolt and the large guilds remain, they'll rule over everyone in the city with an iron fist, including us."

… and if that happened, then there would be no hiding. The skills that they've kept hidden ever since coming to this world would be exposed. They'd be abused for those skills.

 _Their freedom would be no more._

"Then that's all the more reason to help them out, Illya." Shirou berated. While it pained him to do so, this time, he couldn't simply stand aside. At his side, the Tohsaka sisters nodded in agreement.

For much of the same reason, Illya couldn't back down either.

There was no sense in wasting time to try and save these Landers… No, _these NPCs_. If they were dumb enough to even suggest attacking other players then they weren't worth the effort, not even the slightest. They were like a hive mind of idiocy, absolutely no worth whatsoever.

Even if they did save them, somehow, then what would they do when the NPCs screw up and do something stupid again? Save them twice? No, Illya wasn't naive enough to that.

She could understand Shirou wanting to, but Rin!? She only knew the Arcadia attendant for a week at most, and even then, wasn't their relationship purely professional?

"I suppose this is about that blacksmith and his daughter? About the Arcadia attendant? About every other Lander that you guys met this month? Of course, you'd want to save them. You'd break every single bone in your body before you'd let anyone else get hurt…" Illya muttered. "… Where did that behavior get you last time, I wonder?"

It was bitter, forcing those words out.

"Illya," Rin warned. "Don't you dare."

 _Why can't they see it?_

Why did Shirou want to save them? Why did Rin want to save them? Didn't the two of them, above all others, know how stupid the idea of saving everyone is?

Shirou had abandoned that childish dream, and Rin knew how horrid it was thanks to the dream cycles from her servant who literally embodied that dream – and look where that got him with his eternal torment – so what gives!?

… _Didn't they know what happened last time?_

"Oh, that's right!" Illya bitterly forced out once more, only this time she glared nastily at her dearly beloved brother. "You were seconds away from death! Literal moments from it, until I could heal you and piece your soul back together! Not to mention that I'm lucky to even be alive from that! Do you want me, us, to go through that again!? Do you!?"

"Calm yourself, Illyasviel!" Krentelfal interjected in alarm. However, confusion reigned on his face, much more so than any other emotion.

 _Of course, he would be._

 _He didn't know their pain._

 _He didn't know her pain._

"No!" Illya vetoed immediately, blood rushing to her temples, worsening her already aching head and cutting off any possible retort. "You listen to me, Emiya Shirou. You tried to save Sakura by yourself and look where it got you!"

"But we're alive, Illya-chan. That's what matters, right?" Sakura argued, coming to his aide.

 _Why aren't they listening?_

Of course, they were still alive, but that was only through sheer dumb luck. How many times would Shirou have been torn asunder and rend into a pile of flesh from his mentality? On the large scale, his want for heroism may have been abandoned, but on a lesser scale where it concerns the people that he can see…

"Don't ignore it! Shirou still wants to be a hero, I'm not wrong, aren't I!? That's why he wants to save these Landers!" Illya forced out, the frustration in her heart growing with each passing second. "Don't selfishly do things on your own!"

Deep down, he probably still wanted to save people. Now that Sakura was safe, and more importantly not a threat to the world as a whole, he was probably thinking of picking up that dream again to a lesser degree.

He was thinking of taking up the dream that'd hurt himself again…

"Saving these Landers, or even attempting to do so, will put us in danger!"

And that was a fact.

"Just because Sakura is safe and out of danger now doesn't mean she'll always be. You're all going to put her in danger if you keep this up."

The subsequent silence came up. Rin narrowed her eyes dangerously on the albino teen. "Watch it, Einzbern. He's not alone, we're here with him this time. Sakura isn't going to get hurt this time."

 _We?_

Did she think that just because they were all together now, that they would be able to take on any challenge against them? No, once again Illya wasn't naive enough for that.

 _Why were they so persistent?_

"Ah, right. As if you want to save these Landers too. I suppose you want to make it up to Shirou? " Illya turned towards her with irritation in her mind. "'This time' was it? Feeling just a bit regretful for what happened in the war?"

 _Why?_

 _Why don't they understand!?_

No, she wouldn't allow it. Not on her watch…

Illya quivered as all of the pent-up frustration that had built up from within her began to burst from the seams.

… Even if she had to drive salt into their wounds.

"Maybe you should've been there in the first place, instead of trying to kill your little sister!"

Pain.

Pain all across her cheek.

It took a moment, but Illya finally realized that Sakura had slapped her.

Idly, she remembered that she had Player-versus-Player combat left on as it was the default setting. How else would she feel that small and mild decrease in her health points?

The moment Illya recognized the pain, she could see the shocked faces spreading across her brother and Sakura's sister. It was also at that moment that the adopted Matou had chosen to walk closer and wrapped her lithe arms around Illya's frozen form.

"Illya-chan, please. Calm down," Sakura muttered, a lone tear streaking down the side of her face. "I know you're worried about all of us, but we can take care of ourselves. This isn't the Holy Grail War anymore."

Sakura's hand rose and wiped a tear from her face.

No, not her face.

 _When did I start crying?_

"… This isn't the war, I know that…" Illya muttered, guilt and regret hitting her hard. Now that she noticed it, the miniature tears began spilling out. "Why do we have to save the Landers? They got themselves into this problem, let them reap what they sow. Isn't it just better for us to leave? Everyone will be safer that way."

 _All I want… is for everyone to be safe._

"We aren't running, Illya-chan," Sakura pushed with a soft tone. "Melhia-chan, Ferlna-san, and every other person we met… We don't want to abandon our friends. That's all the reason we need."

… _Friends?_

 _The Landers?_

Illya let out a small yet mirthful scoff.

"… You know, any regular magus would have scoffed at you. Helping the Landers isn't going to help us out. There are benefits to the idea, but it's not worth the effort."

 _There was no worth._

Sakura nodded.

"It'd put you in danger, Sakura. It's much safer to get out of here and live out our lives, away from the Einzberns and the clock tower…" Illya quivered. "I just got this chance to live with all of you… I don't want to lose it. I don't want any of you to suffer or get hurt…"

 _We'd draw a target on ourselves needlessly._

Sakura nodded once more.

"I don't want to put any of you in danger. I'm the one with the highest level here, so it's my job to protect you all. If any of you get hurt…" Illya tried one more time to convince them. "I don't want that at all. I don't want any of us to get hurt any more…"

 _Not even once, or ever again._

One more nod.

"…and even with all that, you still want to save them, even Rin?"

This time, all of her guildmates nodded.

 _In unison, together._

"There are children here in this city," Shirou muttered. "Call it selfish, but if I ran now, then I wouldn't just be betraying my ideals – I already did that – running now would betray everything that makes me Emiya Shirou."

"I'm a magus, running from my workshop is a horrible idea." Rin supplemented. However, even an idiot could tell that it wasn't her true reason. A certain bespectacled Lander was probably the real one. "Besides, there's still a lot more research I want to conduct here in this city."

"… I don't want us to just survive, to run and hide whenever there's a problem. I did that a long time ago, listening to gr– Zouken's orders just to stay alive," Sakura added, a small smile on her face as she finally let go of Illya. "I'm sorry that we let you hold such a heavy burden alone for so long, but I'm done running…"

She stepped away and gave Illya the biggest smile she could muster.

"I want us to live in this new world without regrets. If we run now, that'd surely be one of our biggest regrets yet."

At those words, Illya let the small trickle of tears flow into a river.

 _Damn it…_

There was nothing but a literal minute of her heart crying out in pain and sadness, frustrations washing away and being replaced by something… something more.

Why did she have such stubborn family members…?

A clenching heart riddled with pain but soothed by the warmth and touch of family, something that she had never had throughout the majority of her life.

… and why was she so _damn happy_ about it?

She called them all selfish for wanting to save the Landers, but in truth, Illya was selfish too.

Because she wanted to protect her family, for they were the only ones she had.

"… Fine. You want to save these idiots, why the hell not," Illya finally muttered, wiping the tears from her eyes. "But we're doing things my way. If things get too out of hand, we're out, understand? That's the guildmaster's orders!"

"Yeah, that works for me," Shirou answered.

Rin smirked. "Whatever you say, midget."

Sakura just nodded, a serene smile ever-present on her face.

 _As it should be._

"I swear, you're all complete idiots. Did coming to this world change you all that much?" Illya sighed. "Krentelfal!"

The ghost, who had been silent throughout – probably out of respect for the guild's personal matters, which Illya appreciated – jolted and saluted as if on habit. It probably was a habit, seeing as he was probably a knight or a soldier when he was alive.

"Yes, Lady Illyasviel?"

"Listen closely, you're a part of this guild too."

Krentelfal blinked. "I am?"

"If you weren't before, then you are now. The midget is as stubborn as a mule when she wants to be," Rin sighed as she muttered. As much as Illya would like to refute that, she knew she'd be the biggest hypocrite in the world if she did. "Right, guild master, what's the plan?"

Illya huffed.

"I could go on a tangent, but there's only one way to describe what we're going to do," Illya said.

She smirked in sadistic pleasure, the first one she made this morning. Despite the harrowing situation just minutes ago, the guild was happy. For that smirk was one that the guild members– no, that the _family_ recognized.

It was a smirk of contentment and determination.

"Rehabilitation."

-0-0-0-

As Ferlna continued to arrange the books on her shelves, she found it increasingly hard to focus on the task at hand.

 _Idiots, the whole lot of them._

That was the main thought she had carried throughout the night and some time into the morning. She was lucky that there had been a surplus of level-headed Landers yesterday. Otherwise, the whole town might have been razed to the ground.

The mere thought of challenging the adventurers was just asinine, fueled with thoughts of indignation and rage. History had told tales of civil wars that arose through that singular thought alone, yet none of her fellow Landers had even thought of that.

She let out a sigh as she roughly shoved a book back into its rightful place. Hopefully, the poor thing hadn't been damaged from that.

 _Frustration._

That was the second thought she had that controlled her actions. It was an emotion that perfectly encapsulated the helpless feeling that spread through out her veins.

Oh yes, her fellow Landers had set a month-long period for the adventurers to better themselves and actually act like the adventurers that they were instead of bellowing children, but would they do it?

 _No. They wouldn't._

Already, Ferlna wondered about the viability of simply taking her valuables, return home to Maihama, and continue her research without the need to care for the city's political state.

However, even she knew that if she simply ran away from this problem, it would escalate. The chances of the adventurers not redeeming themselves in the eyes of the public were astronomically high, and the resulting slaughter that the adventurers would rain down upon them all would end up being noticed by the cities around the country.

The situation that followed from that would be the complete and utter annihilation, or enslavement as a more pleasant option, of the Landers as a whole.

Of course, there was also the off-chance that the Izumo Knights or the Royal Guard would be able to subdue the Akihabara situation, but even Ferlna knew that a single brigade of knights would not be able to defeat a whole city of immortal demigods.

The other scenario that could arise, was the astronomically low chance that the Landers succeed of ridding themselves of the adventurers via the guild hall or the cathedral. It was also a horrid idea. Without their protection, it would leave the local populace as literal confections for the immortal and ever-present monsters that dwell outside their walls and barriers of magic.

It was frankly, a situation where only a loss was possible with absolutely no hope for victory in any shape or form.

As a Lander, there was nothing that Ferlna could do…

 _However…_

The front door behind her opened up, the ever familiar bell rang a soft yet crude chime at the forceful opening, and allowed the familiar sound of hurrying footsteps to enter the Arcadia.

"Ferlna, help me out with this. I actually got ordered around by the midget for once," Rin the Magi said as she carried a bundle of scrolls on her back.

… _Perhaps she can._

"This is the first step, are you prepared?" Rin said as she entered the back room, dragging out a spare table that Ferlna had stood against the wall due to lack of use.

"... That depends on what present project we are attempting to venture, Rin," Ferlna replied.

"Always with the fanciful words… You'd fit right in with some of the more academically inclined where I come from," Rin muttered absently.

Ferlna let only a soft smile out, relieved that the adventurer came along to distract her. "I shall take that as a complement."

"That's wonderful, now could you stick these scrolls out on a wall with some thumbtacks or something?"

"I'm not certain what a 'thumbtack' is, but we do have some aged slime gel that could work for what you suggest," Ferlna suggested with an unsure frown. "However, they may be damaged if we try to separate it from the wall."

Rin waved her wrist around in a circular motion. "Sure, go ahead. Those papers aren't going to be leaving this room anyway, not until we finish. Oh, and neither are we."

Ferlna felt her brow twitch.

"And pray tell, why is that?"

A few moments after Tohsaka Rin held out her hands and tapped onto some unseen wall, a soft yet sudden surge of light appeared within her grasp. It wasn't magic, but it was still recognizable to Ferlna nonetheless.

She had seen enough adventurers grab and make items disappear or reappear.

Rin let out a slightly warming and soft smile, the first that Ferlna had seen the sorcerer make. "It's my precious guild master's orders, after all. Her first legitimate one, in fact. I just kind of want to make her proud… but,"

As Rin's face grew increasingly mischievous, she placed a slightly intricately designed and translucent blue bottle onto the table. It was from looking at that bottle alone that Ferlna knew she wasn't going to be leaving anytime soon.

"… It was a very interesting order, you know?"

* * *

Emiya Shirou was late.

That was the thought that ran through the Lander with tanned skin as she ran her fingers through her hair, avoiding smirching her face with any more soot as she did.

Melhia knew that he had only started the apprenticeship under her father a little over a week ago, but from how far the sun had moved from when he was supposed to arrive, she was starting to get a little worried.

That meeting yesterday was a little nerve-wracking. It was the first time that she saw her father well and truly infuriated. There were times before when particularly irritating customers went too far, but this was the first time that she noticed something… more, in her father's eyes.

A small trickle of fear.

She knew why. Melhia wasn't stupid, her father was worried for her as any father would and she couldn't really fault him for that…

Once more she winced as Meltraus slammed his hammer down on a semi-heated blade, bending the metal at an irregular angle. Her father huffed in mild irritation before straightening it out as if nothing ever happened to it.

She knew that the particular sword he was working on at the moment would be substantially weaker, but looking into his eyes she could see that he didn't really care at the moment… and she knew exactly why.

That sword was going to break in a few hits against an adventurer anyway.

As ordered by the city's collective leaders, Meltraus and a whole slew of other blacksmiths were to work on weaponry for the Landers when the time came.

Even now Melhia felt irritation building up from within her. She was lucky that her main job was to reforge used equipment into reusable ingots. She could work out her frustrations by hitting things this way. She didn't even need to be methodical about it, just hammer it into a slab and that was it.

The store bell rang, but no one called. Instead, a familiar face made his way into the forge.

"Late aren't you, boy?" Meltraus called as he hammered onto the sword methodically. "If I was anyone else, I'd think you were taking this apprenticeship for granted."

Melhia swallowed some spit and grimaced.

Her father wasn't happy. The frustrations of last night and today were piling on without end. If he wasn't a blacksmith with a tempered mind, then he'd be on a rage-filled tantrum for a while.

Shirou bowed his head in apology. "I'm sorry for being late. Are there any orders I can help out with?"

 _Straight to business, isn't he?_

Of course, there were always orders to help out with. Outfit a whole damned city with weaponry to fight off your kind should the need arise, but of course, Melhia knew she shouldn't tell him about it, or even allude to it.

A quick glance to her father prompted her to speak up.

He was never really a speaker. It was mostly her job to deal with customers, even though she wasn't very used to it. Her father was often blunt and lacked any sort of tact…

… Which was why it was now also her job to ensure Shirou knew nothing.

 _Damn it._

"Not really," Melhia said, the lie coming out surprisingly smooth. "I suppose we have a whole bunch of donkey shoes that need to be refitted. The specifications are on the table over there if you want to get started."

Merchant mules were a hardy bunch, always capable of pulling an entire caravan when the need arose. It was a killer on their shoes though, so refitting them was actually a blacksmith's main source of income. Hell, even she made several dozen not that long ago.

"Are you sure?" Shirou asked, pointing towards Meltraus, or more specifically the pile of swords beside him. "Those are a lot of swords being made."

Suddenly, Melhia could feel the unease in the air. It wasn't the heat of the forge, she had gotten used to that a long time ago, but the look in Shirou's eyes–

He knew.

Of course, Melhia didn't really believe in that passing thought, but she just chuckled a bit to try to ease the tension. Most of it was coming from her father, who looked just a tad bit worried yet aggressive in his own unique kind of way.

"We're replenishing the stock weaponry!" Melhia forced out quickly. "There were quite a few purchases yesterday while you were gone. They sold like hotcakes."

Shirou narrowed his eyes, and Meltraus' own narrowed further.

 _Damn it, dad! Learn a little tact!_

"I came back early yesterday and the shop was closed," He said as Melhia felt her stomach turn. "Even then, why would swords sell like that? There are only two scenarios where that'd be true. The first one is out because I'm certain that no adventurer would buy them unless they were a custom order…"

He turned to face them, his own fingers gripped tightly into fists.

There it was, her lie coming apart in shambles.

"… The second scenario would be during wartime, where supplying weaponry to soldiers is a blacksmith's priority."

"Boy, don't say any more."

The thundering tone in his voice, which would normally silence any old blacksmith without issue, only gave Shirou a moment to pause before he resumed his narrowed gaze… wait, was that a bit of sadness in there too?

"I should've known that we couldn't hide it from you," Meltraus muttered. "Well, I'm assuming you already know. You came in here and the first thing you actually looked at were the weapons."

"I admit, that's a habit I haven't gotten rid of yet," Shirou admitted sheepishly. Although Melhia was slightly confused as to why that'd be a habit in the first place. "But yes, I do know about what happened last night. That meeting."

 _Shit._

Melhia felt herself panic.

None of the weaponry was ready. If Shirou decided to go outside and spread the news to the other adventurers–

 _Slaughter._

That was what was going to happen, just like meat to a blood-thirsty butcher.

She gripped the hammer in her hands and tried to calm her breathing.

 _At this rate–_

"Don't worry, Meltraus. You too, Melhia."

The soothing tone in that voice abruptly cut off her panicked thoughts. Her eyes tracked the adventurer as he walked off into his corner of the forge and grabbed an ingot. He immediately began work on it as if nothing wrong had occurred.

… _What?_

"Don't worry. We know what the meeting was about and what the final ruling was. We're going to help you out," He said as he hammered the ingot, the thunderous sound snapping Melhia out of her reverie. It was only after a few seconds that Melhia recognized what he was making.

 _A sword._

"We have a plan too," Shirou uttered. "A plan to help everyone."

Once more, the hammer hit the ingot–

"No one is going to die."

–and the sparks flew off it like embers.

"You can count on it."

* * *

"Another round."

The blunt order came from the putrid adventurer before him. Stinky, covered in dirt, it was a wonder that the fool didn't even bother changing his armor out for something cleaner.

But of course, the twat didn't. The adventurer didn't even give him a single glance as he grabbed a beer mug and brought it onto his face. None of the adventurers in his inn did, actually.

His inn was wide and open. Apart from that, there wasn't much difference, if any, to the other typical inns you could find in the city, but his location at the heart of the city was very much a contributor as to why his inn was one of the most profitable in town, evident by the fact that nearly every table he had was filled with adventurers.

Granted, these were tables suited for six persons and there was only one adventurer at each table at the moment, but it was a testament to his success that even on off-days, there were patrons to be had.

… Shame they weren't good patrons.

Ashe Eve-marrow sighed and dusted his apron. Normally it'd be rude to do in front of customers, but the daft adventurer didn't even bother to look at him. Instead, the bugger downed the mug and focused on getting buzzed.

 _Childish tantrum they called it… That Ferlna lass was right, it was oversimplifying things._

Ashe ruffled his long hair, having been shaped into a ponytail to avoid getting in the way of his job and let out an irritated sigh.

These were wastes of space.

They did nothing, _like always_. They sat and stared in boredom, _like always_. They talked to one another rarely, as if they didn't have the slightest trust in one another, _like always_.

It was at this point that Ashe was beginning to see that they were too hopeful during the meeting yesterday. These idiots would probably be better suited to be feces. At least cow shit helped out their crops.

He watched an adventurer grab a mug of beer and tossed a gold coin his way. Ashe didn't even have a single moment to fill the thing with beer before the idiot muttered something about an NPC and annoyed at having to do it himself.

How in the bloody hell was he going to do it for him if the accursed hobgoblin of a man didn't even fucking let him!? Daft cunt!

Feeling frustrated, the Lander looked out to the nearest window, gauging it to be near midday. More adventurers would pour in seeing as his Inn was the biggest in the district, which meant he'd have to deal with more unruly fools like him.

 _Terrific._

At this rate, it'd take a miracle to fix up these bums.

The doorbell rang as the door itself swung open. Ashe turned and felt dispirited at the notion of another one of these blokes making their way in.

Those thoughts died when he saw the happy and serene smile of the Foxtail with royally violet hair making her way into the Inn. She greeted those who she passed by with a smile, which seemed to surprise the majority of the adventurers as she walked up to the front desk where Ashe stood rigid.

"Good morning!"

 _By the gods, an adventurer actually greeted good morning?_

"My name is Sakura. I'm not really here to make a purchase, but there is something I want to do," She explained as she kept her head high and shoulders straight… in a respectable manner? What devilry was this? "If it's alright with you, can I work here for today?"

Just like that, Ashe heard one of his beer mugs fall, bounce, and roll away.

He blinked.

 _What?_

"You see, I heard from a friend that this inn has a lot of customers and that they'd be a little trouble to deal with," the Foxtail explained. It was then that Ashe realized he had spoken out loud earlier. "So, I thought helping out would be a great idea!"

 _By the gods, the woman was respectful too!?_

It took a moment for Ashe to register what she had said, but by the time he did, his mouth spread open like a whore in a whorehouse.

This was… new, to say the least.

"Excuse me, miss adventurer," the innkeeper said, choosing his words carefully. "But I, er…"

Words failed him, but that was only due to the sheer confusion he felt gnawing at his heels.

"It's fine if you don't pay me," Sakura added on. "I just wanted to help out."

"Okay, weird," muttered one of the adventurers slumped over a chair. "Hey lady! What're you trying to do?"

Brutish and rude, a stellar difference to the young woman before him. Hell, if he didn't have a wife, Ashe would've propositioned, adventurer status be damned. Actually, calling her an adventurer would be an insult. She was a damned _saint_ compared to these _shit stains_.

The young woman, Sakura if he recalled correctly, simply smiled his way and replied. "I want to do something at least. The bigger guilds took over most of the good farming spots, right? All the good lower level areas have all been taken too, so I'm left without much to do."

She then gestured to the Inn in general and outside of it, towards the whole city. It caught the attention of the numerous other adventurers in the inn.

"Then I remembered, there are a lot more things that I can do in this city!" She pulled back her sleeves and placed her hands on her hips. "I'm not afraid to do a little hard work to stave off some boredom! I may not look like it, but I'm a hard worker!"

"But isn't that pointless?" A bespectacled adventurer asked, leaning his head on a table as if he just awoke from a nap. "They're just NPCs, it's not like that's going to do anything."

Ashe fought back the urge to throw a whole barrel of beer at the bastard.

"True… it might be," Sakura muttered as she rubbed her chin in consideration. "But I don't think it matters, does it? As long as I have something to do, isn't it fine? Anything is better than being bored after all!"

Just like that, a small spark was lit in the eyes of the adventurers around them.

It was… odd, seeing adventurers give each other odd and strange looks, but one by one they rose from their seats and began leaving the inn.

"… Well, I'm bored anyway. Where do you wanna go?"

"Dunno, wanna check out the guild hall?"

"Nah, I think the merchants probably need some help."

"Might as well, nothing better to do anyway."

 _What? What in the name all that is holy…?_

Right before his eyes, a miracle had occurred.

"Hmm… It looks like it isn't as crowded as I thought it'd be," Sakura muttered, not even mentioning what had just occurred. "Well, I'm still waiting for your reply, mister innkeeper. Can I work here for today?"

Ashe gave her a long and hard stare of consideration.

"… Do you know how to clean mugs?"

"Yes! I'm also good at a lot of housework!"

Once more he gave a look on consideration.

… Well, he wasn't going to say no to a miracle worker.

"I'm paying you gold for this. No ifs, ands, or buts. Help me prepare more of the mugs," He said as he pointed behind him towards the back room. "In an hour or two, there'll be a lot more of them. I'll have to prepare the beer barrels too, so could you help me out with that?"

The serene smile she gave and subsequent nod was like a breath of fresh air.

"Yes, just leave it to me!"

* * *

Illya's feet stopped atop the grass, gazing out at the ruined buildings.

The second that her family left the guild hall, Illya dragged Krentelfal with her to the outskirts of town. It was still within the safe zone, but the Landers hadn't built anything there, mostly due to the reason that there were no walls to protect them should the magic barrier around the city fail.

Yes, the magic barrier, if following the in-game lore, should need maintenance every summer or so. Illya had no idea when Akihabara needed to fix it up now, seeing as she never really participated in those endeavors, but such a time existed. Adventurers would have to protect the town while the Kunie clan refueled the barrier.

Or at least, that's what Illya thought, no further knowledge on the subject. If the Villain-in-glasses were here then he'd probably, no, definitely know the answer.

But too bad, he wasn't here but instead off somewhere in the city doing who knows what, so Illya was just going with guesswork.

"Illya, what is it that we are doing here?" Krentelfal asked, floating beside her even though he could simply make his legs corporeal and stand alongside her. "Your guildmates are hard at work following your orders. I hope we aren't simply letting them do all the dirty work."

"No, we're doing some work too," although that'd be a fun thing to do, Illya would later admit. "We're working on phase three while everyone works on phase one and two."

"Phase three?" Krentelfal muttered. "I wasn't aware there was a phase three? I had thought that the plan was to ensure that all the adventurers acted like people. In your words, rehabilitation?"

"No, that's not all," Illya informed, walking into an abandoned building. "Do you realize why the town looks like what it is right now?"

The ghost nodded. It was hard to not know when she explained it to her guild with him present.

The adventurers of Akihabara were bored, incredibly so. At the current rate, they'd resort to drastic measures to do something about their situation, which was something that Shirou would prefer to prevent.

Hence phase one, where Sakura and Shirou would place themselves in the limelight. One of them working on the adventurers and ensuring that they start helping out others as a way to alleviate their boredom, and the other working with Landers and try to quell anti-adventurer sentiments.

Both of which will end up raising morale and the view of adventurers significantly. Illya was relying on the curiosity of the adventurers to attempt the idea for shits and giggles.

By the end of the month, the adventurers would end up looking better in the eyes of the locals. Hopefully enough so that it'd eliminate most of the dissent.

However, it wasn't a permanent fix. Sooner or later, the adventurers would get bored and the Landers would instead see them as uncommitted whelps. What phase one was doing, was buying them some time.

Illya wasn't a fool, so that was why phase two had begun immediately with Rin and that Arcadia attendant, Ferlna. Adventurers, or rather people in general, need a reason to keep doing a task, no matter how boring or repetitive it is.

Killing monsters gave levels, gold returns goods, and negotiations lead to profit. No matter what world you were in, people only thought of self-gain. Illya had enough of a clear mind to see that.

So that was where Rin's project would come in.

 _The reproduction of the EXP potion._

Illya thought of it as the most devious thing she had ever concocted. While everyone sans Rin felt uneasy with the idea, Illya knew the potential of it.

To survive in this world, you'd need power, a lot of it. With the large guilds pushing around the smaller ones, it was an obvious conclusion. However, what if there existed a way to ensure you, and everyone you cared about, would never be touched again?

With the guild room and death being a figment of their imagination now, there would be little to no chance of being assassinated. Kidnapping would be dangerous, but persuasion magecraft proved to be an easy way to escape most situations.

So why was all that important?

Well, if you became one of the primary exporters of EXP potions, then even the big boys would invest to keep you protected. With that one fact, the Emiya Family would become literally untouchable, protected from every feasible harm, and able to live out their lives in this world as free as they could be…

… of course, that was if they were the only supplier.

Illya peered over the top of the abandoned building and down towards the dirt below. A player wearing a sleazy pirate hat and a trench coat handed over a box of blue potions to another player wearing sharp looking armor from head to toe.

One of them belonged to the Black Sword Knights guild, the second largest but arguably most powerful guild in Akihabara.

The other belonged to the object of Illya's ire, _Hamelin._

Oh… yes, Illya remembered when Sakura detailed her meeting with those freaks. Luckily that harem-lord Soujiro managed to get her out of there in time. It took a lot of convincing from Sakura's part to stop the rest of the family from storming their way in and gutting as many members of Hamelin that they could.

Not that it was possible anyway, guild room protection and all that.

But the resentment still remained, and Illya was going to work on it and milk them dry with phase three.

The second that Rin was finished with reproducing the potion, then phase two will begin and they start selling the potions for a profit. Illya had complete faith that the Tohsaka magus would be able to make it in time, and even if she couldn't then Illya could always help out herself seeing as they were both magi from prestigious backgrounds.

Of course, Hamelin would notice and try to sabotage them in some way, but that was where Illya's phase three would begin, the phase that she didn't tell the group due to the morally ambiguous nature of it.

 _Systematically displacing members of Hamelin until none of them remained._

Bounded fields were a monstrous thing. If one didn't know about them and about being in them, then they would never, ever be able to escape. From what she could gather, and still was gathering even now, Hamelin always did their transactions at this location.

An amateur mistake. All magi knew that when committing more… criminally inclined acts, they'd need to be untraceable. Reusing a single location was an easy way to be tracked.

It wasn't even a hard idea to consider, seeing as the bastards were probably keeping low-level players and harvesting EXP pots from them that way. Primitive and barbaric, unlike a magi's far more refined methods.

Still, Illya couldn't fault for them for jumping at the opportunity. The leader of the guild might be a smart fellow… or a push-over, whichever works.

Did it warrant trapping them in a prison forever? Probably not…

… But they tried to lay a hand on Sakura, a member of her dearly beloved family.

They _weren't_ coming out unscathed.

She could hit two birds with one stone, getting rid of Hamelin and probably liberating the lower level players there, if they existed. It could always just be some of Hamelin's own members providing it…

Ha! Yeah, Illya wasn't stupid enough to believe that. Hamelin was just a simple guild, one filled with mid-level players that did what they wanted. Even with their guild having no clear direction, they only accepted members with a high enough level. The only time they'd allow players under thirty to join would've been when the transition between worlds occurred.

 _Meh, whichever._

The Black Sword Knight player bowed and left. Respectful, yes, but towards a pretty sleazy dude, it just looked out of place. Illya supposed it was also time that she left.

She got what she needed.

If they end up changing their patterns, then she could send Krentelfal to learn when, and more importantly where, they would be making their future transactions.

Illya let a small yet childish hum. Musing to herself in childish glee, which was now very unfitting to her much more mature frame. She couldn't really help it though, seeing as it was a habit ingrained in her.

Hamelin would get their due, and her family would be protected forever.

She was a magus, after all.

They didn't play nice.

Not one bit.

 _Teehee~_

* * *

 **A/N: So here's the chapter, coming out on the exact last day of the month (where I am). Whoopsie.**

 **Le drama lmao.**

 **So, I feel like I need to explain Illya's mindset just a bit. She was focusing heavily on protecting her family. You'd do a lot just to protect those you cherish, and Illya is no exception to it. In fact, she embodies it now, more than ever.** **That was basically the whole driving force that I was thinking of for her characterization in this fic, but she's still the same sadistic girl we all know and love.** **Hence why she was so panicked and dismissive of everyone else. After all, only her family mattered.**

 **A whole lot is going to be happening in the coming chapters now that the preparation arc is somewhat dealt with, so prepare for that.**

 **In other news, Pokemon Direct came out the literal second I was about to post this so now I have generation 8 looming over the corner, which is absolutely wonderful. Kingprotea was released on JP on the same day (the second ascension is best one, fight me) and her sprite is larger than life itself.**

 **As always, leave a review when you notice something wrong with the chapter or have a minor or major peeve as usual. I learn from feedback and criticism, as everyone should.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Kappa.**

 **A/N 2: A guest pointed out that the way I described Hamelin was not consistent. Looking back, it definitely wasn't. The Hamelin I described in this chapter wasn't accurate and was made in a rush. I edited it to remain consistent with the following chapter.**


	11. Chapter 11: Complications

**Chapter 11**

 **Beta: Worldbringer of Joseun**

 **Cover: LousGndiner**

* * *

Illya was once again watching from her perch atop the numerous buildings.

Last time, she had been watching from an arguably short distance away. At that distance, nothing would actually stop the Hamelin guild members from taking a bored glance up, taking notice of her, and giving away her position.

She needed to prevent that at all costs.

So this time, Illya was on a building's roof almost twice as high and equally as far away. Granted she couldn't see anything from this distance, nor could she listen to the sound of their voices. It was an inconvenience for anyone choosing to listen in. Hell, Illya couldn't traditionally listen in from this far away.

Traditionally, that is. Focusing for just a second, Illya began to see through her eyes, or rather a separate pair of them.

Her familiars circled above the towering buildings before diving into the nearby canopy of trees. None of the adventurers looked up as they conducted their usual deal. They were professional, Illya could give them that.

They were still sleazebags though. The few days Illya had spent watching them did nothing to change that fact.

She had also managed to confirm her little… suspicion, that Hamelin was using lower leveled players as miniature yet renewable experience potion farms. Krentelfal's reports from becoming intangible and invisible to tail them made that very, _very_ clear.

Every day a player going by the name of Schreider, it could've been Shredder but Krentelfal wasn't sure of the spelling, had been bringing along lower leveled guildmates to find and fight monsters in the form of supply runs. In short, gathering materials and food items from the other areas.

According to Krentelfal, despite the presence of a slightly higher leveled player to babysit them, the party consecutively failed to have efficient runs due to the fact that monsters ignored the tanks and attacked the back rear, where the other weak support members were.

 _Of course, it would_ , Illya thought. _The idiot was still the highest level in the party. Tanks couldn't stop monsters from attacking him and ruining their formation because he dealt way too much damage. The teacher system existed for a reason!_

Then again, the guild member was only level forty-six, so that meant he barely had any experience raiding whatsoever. He had probably never had a proper dungeon run in his life.

Illya conveniently ignored that tank classes were the exception due to the fact that they were supposed to be attacked in the first place.

Her familiar settled onto a tree branch and watched the proceedings with little issue. She noticed Krentelfal listening close by but wasn't completely sure where he was. For a knight, he was surprisingly stealthy when he needed to be.

The Hamelin member raised a thumb in confirmation once the transaction was complete. The Black Sword Knight's representative left without issue, like always.

Illya still wondered why the Black Sword Knight's decided to conduct business with a sleazy guild such as theirs but she could see the appeal, the EXP pots were a big deal in later levels.

When used, they improved the amount of experience gained by a substantial degree. In fact, they provided double the amount, which was basically _a hundred percent_ increase. Also, it lessened the level requirement of monsters you needed to kill to gain experience.

Normally, you'd need to slay a monster, that was at least five levels lower than you, in order to gain EXP. This means that if a monster was level fifteen and you were level twenty-one, then you'd gain literally no experience. However, the potion made it so that you just needed the enemy to be seven levels lower, which wasn't a lot, but it allowed you to gain EXP from a wider range of mobs.

If you were in a dungeon, then you'd be able to grind on more mobs for experience instead of a select few. Add that to the fact that they increased attack power, alongside a player's health and mana recovery rate, and you had yourself a recipe for absurd leveling sessions.

And the effect lasted two hours. _Two. Whole. Hours._ You could do a regular dungeon in that time with ease. Absolutely broken.

Of course, Atharva foresaw this – the game company who developed Elder Tale – and made it so that only level thirty or lower players obtained them once per day. Apparently, the item was implemented so that newer players could enjoy the game, level up sooner, and even join raids.

Like that worked at all. Bot accounts were everywhere and guilds bought those things in bulk like crazy. Most players even had second accounts to supply themselves an EXP pot daily.

Of course, Illya was no exception. It was a shame though, she wouldn't be able to use that character ever again. She was starting to like playing as a Kannagi.

Illya shook herself from her thoughts as the Hamelin member finally started to leave. She carefully noted that the dealer didn't change at all, so she'd need to figure out a way to find the other guild members–

The trees rustled on the opposite side of the open field.

If it weren't for Illya's familiar having been specially made to detect high-speed movement – she was pretty worried about assassin class servants before she summoned Berserker – then she wouldn't have seen the blurring plum-colored figure atop the canopy.

A player.

Illya focused, making her familiar take off in flight to get a closer look while remaining out of sight.

The player was short, about as tall as Illya used to be. She wore her hair in a ponytail and wore the traditional garb that most Assassin class players opted for.

Strange… Why would another player be spying on Hamelin? Maybe she was from the Black Sword Knights and ensuring the transaction went smoothly?

The player's eye twitched.

For a moment, Illya noted the fact that her familiar had just made eye contact with the diminutive player.

In that second, the assassin _bolted_ away.

It was only from Illya's experience that her familiar was able to follow her. She didn't doubt that the player was an Assassin now, seeing as the equipment she wore were mostly found on players of the class.

And she was using the Tracker subclass skill _Silent Move_. It's rare to find anyone else use the subclass outside of the assassin class, so it was the best conclusion.

Why was she running away in a panic? It was like she wasn't supposed to be seen.

Illya could rule out the Black Sword Knights then, seeing as if she was a part of them and had been caught, she could say that she was just insurance to protect the transaction. Could she be from Hamelin then?

No… that was also a flimsy assumption. If she was from Hamelin, then she'd be running towards her ally to warn them of the familiar watching them. The panic that Illya had seen on the assassin's face during her quick moment of escape made absolutely no sense if she was from that guild of sleazebags.

This meant that the assassin was a third party altogether, completely unrelated to the Black Sword Knights and to Hamelin.

Why? What reason would there be for a third party to exist here?

Was it one of the bigger guilds like DDD? Or was it a stray player that got curious? Unless her familiar got close enough to view her status, Illya would never know.

The questions kept piling up within Illya's mind. Luckily, it seemed that her familiar could keep up with the unknown player. The bird formed from the locks of Illya's hair masterfully weaved itself above, below, and even through the numerous branches as it made a beeline towards her.

At this rate, Illya would be able to–

The assassin spun around in the air and in a burst of fluorescent pink light, she was nowhere to be found.

Illya ordered her familiar to stop in order to detect any further possible movements. Her Engel Note familiar scoured the area, hurrying its gaze across the canopy's maze of leaves.

The last thing Illya saw through her familiar was the flash of a blade before her connection was severed. Within seconds, Illya's mind was back and focused on the rooftop she sat on.

That was… the assassin got the drop on her familiar. She must've used the skill _Hide Walk_ to weave her way into her familiar's blind spot.

Well played.

Congratulations aside, Illya was now just a tad bit stuck. She knew where her familiar died and could send another to follow, but by then the assassin would have already vacated the area.

Whoever that third party was, she escaped, and Illya didn't even know what she was there for.

She let out a sigh.

"Great…" Illya muttered. "Krentelfal?"

The ghost, who had appeared by her side, answered. "Yes?"

"That assassin, did you catch her name at all?" Illya asked.

"There was an assassin?" Krentelfal muttered in slight alarm. "I hadn't noticed, Illya. Were you harmed?"

"She got my familiar, but that's it," Illya muttered. "She didn't look like she was affiliated with any of the guilds at the transaction. She's a third party, or in other words an unknown variable."

"Will your plan need revision?" Krentelfal asked.

Honestly, Illya wanted to. However…

"There's too little information available. I didn't even see her face, she ran before I could get a good look," Illya bemoaned. She huffed and straightened her frown. "She was short, wore a ponytail, and looked like a stereotypical ninja… If I want to plan around this third party, I'd need to figure out who she is."

"I suppose this means more reconnaissance?" Krentelfal asked.

Illya nodded. "I want you to head into town and look for adventurers that match her appearance. She could've changed her equipment so focus on looking for a short assassin about this high."

Her arm was held up to below her breasts, exactly as high as she was in Fuyuki before the transfer.

"Report back by the end of the day," Illya finalized.

"Understood," the ghost nodded. However, he still mused as he always did. Not even being trapped by a crystal prison could change that, which Illya was alright with. "This is starting to remind me of my days serving under my late lord… troubled times, those were."

Illya admitted to wincing just a little bit. She ordered him around like nothing, hadn't she?

Her eyes mellowed a tad bit from her prior serious demeanor. "If you can't find anything, then that's okay. A list of possible adventurers would be fine too. Don't push yourself."

Krentelfal raised a brow and nodded before fading into the building, likely to scour the city.

Illya let out a sigh. She did say she wanted to start over with him as friends, but wasn't this… not that? Honestly, it felt more like she was his superior, which wasn't technically right.

She regressed into her attitude from when Sella and Leysritt were still around. She had ordered them around just as she did Krentelfal. Terrific. Some friend she was.

At least Krentelfal saw nothing wrong with it, even if she did for just a bit.

Illya shook the thought away. Melancholy could wait.

For now, she needed to head back to the guild. It was getting late. Shirou, Rin, and Sakura were probably already back from their roles. Unfortunately, Illya wouldn't be able to tell them of this issue.

They didn't know that she was stalking Hamelin, and if she let it slip that that she met an unknown player while gauging its members, then the secret would be out faster than Berserker breaking through the Einzbern castle walls.

She'd have to tackle it alone, which honestly shouldn't be that big of an issue. As long as it was just one player, Illya would be fine.

* * *

Shirou made his way out of the forge and sighed.

Even after spending a day reassuring them, Meltraus and Melhia were still kind of wary around him. He could understand, seeing as it was just human nature to do so.

At least they sort of trusted him, otherwise, they'd never let him follow Melhia once more to their supplier. The distance between them wasn't substantial, but it was still noticeable.

As usual, he was treated to some odd and wary glances, but considering the meeting they had days prior, it was understandable. He made tried to make eye contact and give them a friendly smile, but most of the Landers barely reacted. Some of them even turned away as quick as they could.

Adventurer and Lander relations were really not at their best, weren't they?

He caught sight of the familiar stall with a steel plated caravan parked behind it and the equally familiar merchant beside it. Tomtom seemed to be close to closing up shop for the day before he caught sight of Melhia.

His smile brightened before dimming at catching Shirou, who still had no idea why.

"G-Good afternoon, Melhia," He started. "I see you brought your little… helper again."

Melhia nodded. "Yeap. Don't worry, I'll just grab the usual bag and leave."

Tomtom nodded. "It's in the caravan. Ask my assistant, he should be able to direct you to it."

She nodded and made her way to the back. Although, in doing so she neglected to address the fact that Shirou was now standing in a Lander-only marketplace without so much as a reason to be there.

From the increasingly uncomfortable stares that he was receiving, Shirou was starting to feel just a tad bit exasperated.

Maybe he should've followed Melhia out back?

"I can still ask a question about you, correct?"

Tomtom's sudden question cut through the awkward air like butter, something that Shirou was honestly pleased with.

"Yeah, you can. I offered it in the first place."

"Good, because I have a few to ask," he straightened his posture. "I've heard this from… a credible source. Is it true that you all weren't always… an adventurer?"

Ah… so he was looking to clarify what was said nights ago. In that case, Shirou would oblige.

"Yes, that's true," he confirmed.

"Could you elaborate further?"

Shirou hummed in consideration and proceeded. "This world is… pretty strange to me. Unlike the other adventurers, who've at least seen this world through… a different lens, I was only about to start when we came to this world."

"I see…" He muttered. "Well, that's one question down. My other question is, what do you intend to do? I've seen other adventurers and you do not act like them."

Odd question, but it probably meant he was confused as to why he wasn't either in a constant state of gloom like the others. A loaded question… but he shouldn't hold back in his answer.

Be open and sincere. This was one of the best ways to get Landers to trust you, or at least that was what Ferlna from the Arcadia said.

"I don't think it'd help anyone if I did that. I get why they're depressed, but it's not really something I'd do," Shirou admitted. "Besides… I have people, or rather a family, that I need to protect. I can't do that if I wallowed away like the rest."

Shirou didn't know what Tomtom was thinking, but he seemed to like the answer.

This was good. The magus of swords had a feeling that the Lander didn't trust him very much at all. Maybe he was one of the people harboring anti-adventurer sentiments?

"Alright, last question," Tomtom added on. "What's your relation with Melhia?"

Shirou blinked.

"She's the daughter of my master and a friend?" Shirou uttered with a slight tilt to his head.

Or at least, that's what Shirou believed their relationship to be. He wasn't entirely sure of the friend part, though. Melhia was pretty wary of him nowadays, so perhaps he'd have to try and make amends.

"Is… is that it?" Tomtom asked with a look of puzzlement in his eyes.

"Yes?" Shirou said his own puzzlement mimicked his perfectly. "I mean, I get along with her fine."

 _Or at least, I think so. It's been hard to tell recently._

"I-I see…" Tomtom muttered before letting a smile grow onto his face. "That's good! People need friends after all!"

Why was he cheerful all of a sudden? Hell, he was even patting his back like they were old buddies!

"Melhia mentioned that you could forge regularly like other Lander blacksmiths, right?" He asked with a smile, to which Shirou nodded. "Why don't you use that fancy magic of yours that Meltraus hates? I could never understand that."

At least the guy seemed more comfortable around him, even if Shirou had literally zero clues as to why.

"I'd like to know too!"

Shirou blinked and turned his head, which gave him enough time to catch the sack of heavy metal ores tossed his way. Reflexively, he reinforced his forearms and caught it easily. Much easier than he thought, actually. Had he gotten stronger?

"M-Melhia!" Tomtom cried out in shock. "That's priceless merchandise! I don't want Meltraus to get cracked ores! It'd ruin your shop's reputation!"

"It's fine, he looked like he could handle it." Melhia waved him off. She still wasn't up to calling him by his name like before, wasn't she? "More importantly, why'd you forge normally? You never really told us."

"I didn't?" Shirou muttered. He thought back and sure enough, he didn't find a single memory of explaining himself. Odd, he was sure that he had? Or maybe he didn't.

He let out a short hum and answered. "I felt that it was a bit too easy."

Melhia blinked. "That's it? That's a pretty weak reason if it is."

"I oversimplified it then," Shirou muttered. "I think the most important part of a weapon is the history behind it. A sword is just a sword to anyone else, but to people like us, a sword tells us a lot of things just from the way it was forged."

Shirou withdrew the first sword he made from his inventory and held it up to them. "This looks like a regular sword too, but I remember melting the metal, folding it, and strengthening it. I remember fitting the handle onto the tang and painstakingly making sure that it wasn't loose in the slightest."

He sent the sword back into his inventory. "If I had done it like other adventurer blacksmiths, then I wouldn't have those memories. The art of making a weapon would be nothing more than a push of the button, and that is… not something I'd ever willingly want to do."

"So pride and sentimental value?" Tomtom mused. "I think I understand that…"

"Is that why you still use that old caravan?" Melhia asked him. "I thought you couldn't afford a better one."

Tomtom chuckled wearily. "I'm the biggest supplier in the center part of this city and you thought I couldn't afford a better one… That's reassuring to my pride as a merchant."

"You had pride?"

"Guh!"

Melhia shrugged, ignorant of the wince that both Tomtom and Shirou shared. "Well, see you later Tomtom. Papa will want us back soon. Take care!"

Shirou offered a farewell bow, which must have been odd to see as he did so while carrying all of the ore.

"Take care!" Tomtom offered as he went back to his stall, finally closing up shop.

As their distance increased, Shirou felt a smile worm its way onto his face. Melhia wasn't walking with a substantial distance between them anymore, so she must've gotten comfortable with his presence again.

She might still be wary, but it was a start.

That was fine with him.

* * *

Sakura swung her legs atop her bed. Her little puppy barked as it sat atop her legs – or rather on top of her stomach – in glee as she scratched its chin.

Shirou had not yet returned and neither had Rin. Illya said that she was on her way back soon so Sakura supposed that she wasn't going to be waiting for long.

It still didn't abate the subtle boredom she felt.

The room wasn't really dirty in the slightest, seeing as she had already cleaned it up numerous times in the span of an hour. Again, done more so out of boredom.

In her opinion, she hadn't really done much today. All she did was help out in the inn.

Sure, she managed to get an adventurer to help out an old lady, but later he had admitted that he only did it because she reminded him of his own grandmother.

Following that comment, the adventurer remembered his own family and spiraled into gloom once more.

Sakura winced at the memory.

Luckily for her, the West Wind Brigade showed up and realized what she was attempting to do. Fortunately, they managed to help her nudge the adventurer out of his gloom for a while before he left the inn. She didn't know where the adventurer was right now, but hopefully, he took the first step towards betterment.

Sakura frowned as she stared out the guild room window.

These were just the early days in the plan, they could still improve the city for them to live in. The Landers hadn't reached their tipping point yet, and neither had the tensions between combat guilds worsened to the point of no return…

… but Sakura wasn't naive. She could tell that her little actions, while they helped alleviate the local adventurer populace of their gloom momentarily, it wasn't permanent.

Sakura could only hope that Illya's plan worked out. She didn't know how the potions would help the adventurers or the Landers, but the guardian seemed sure of herself, so Sakura had faith in turn.

She sighed and took a deep breath.

At least the innkeeper seemed to like her, that was good.

The door opened as Illya strode in without a fuss. Behind her, Rin and Shirou trickled in until they sat back on their own respective beds. Krentelfal shimmered into existence beside Illya, momentarily causing her own dear wolf pup to yelp in surprise.

Oh, right. She still hadn't named the little guy… girl?

No, it was definitely a guy. Sakura could see his cute little wiener.

"Alright everyone, anything to report?" Illya asked as she began to unequip her armor, leaving soft pajamas in its place.

"The EXP potion project is proceeding slower than expected. I'm struggling to completely reverse engineer the ingredients," Rin admitted. She ruffled her torn cultist robes in frustration. "Also, we're running low on ingredients at the Arcadia. Ferlna has a lot of materials, but she doesn't have enough for continuous trial-and-error. We'll need someone to go get those materials."

Illya nodded. "Alright. Krentelfal, are you okay with errand duty?"

The ghost nodded as he straightened his posture. "I believe these ghostly bones should be capable of that much. I accept."

Rin tossed him a scroll, which he caught.

"We're going to need as many as you can find," Rin informed. "Ferlna listed the locations along with the following ingredients. Do you need a map?"

"No, I believe that the landscape hasn't changed very much. I should be able to know the way myself."

Illya raised a brow in curiosity. "Hasn't it been thousands of years since you left that fountain?"

"A little under that amount I admit," he said as he shrugged. "Well then, if there is nothing else, then I may as well acquire an early departure."

"Is that so?" Sakura mused. "Are you sure you don't want to stay for a while?"

"We're still technically in a meeting," Illya informed, to which Sakura nodded. It still was, as informal as it felt.

He let out a minor chuckle.

"My lady, if I remain here then I would not be able to contribute in the slightest," he gestured to the scroll. "At least with this, I shall be able to be more efficient."

Illya sighed and tossed him her bag. "Use my magic bag. There isn't much in there anyway, it's all in the bank."

The ghost nodded and faded through the door.

"So he can make other objects intangible too…?" Rin muttered as she trailed off in thought. A short hum of consideration followed. "That's useful. He could technically steal whatever he wants."

"His honor as a knight probably wouldn't allow it," Shirou reminded. "Anyway, I've managed to get a few Landers to give the other adventurers a chance, but I'm not sure how long that'll last."

Sakura nodded. "I'm having the same issue. Helping the Landers and adventurers is a good idea, but there won't be any lasting effects for a while."

Illya waved it off. "That's fine. It wasn't meant to be a permanent fix, remember?"

"Yeah, the reproduction of EXP pots is our end goal," Rin muttered. "You know, it would be faster if you helped me out, midget. Alchemy was your family's specialty, right?"

Illya blinked and appeared to be considering it for a moment.

"... I don't think I can help out this week," Illya admitted, an apologetic smile forming on her face. "Sorry, but there are a few other things that I need to sort out before I can."

"No worries, just drop by the shop when you can. " Rin nodded as she sighed. "If only there was a way to gain more knowledge. All the books and tomes at the Tohsaka residence were about gemcraft and possible applications."

A few seconds pass.

Illya blinked slowly. "Shirou, does the blacksmith class give you information?"

"That's out of the blue…" Shirou muttered, but he shook his head. "I don't think so… ah, wait. I think it does, but I already knew most of the information before I got the subclass. It did tell me how to repair chain mail, despite the fact that I've never seen chain mail before."

"Subclasses _do_ give information then," Illya smiled as she slapped her fist onto her palm in realization. "Then that's perfect! There's an alchemist subclass, that should be able to help you!"

"There is?" Rin blinked in surprise. "Well then, where do I get it?"

Illya hummed as she recalled the information.

"If I remember right, it should be an easy one… You'll need to get it from the local Lander production guild. It's a production class, so you'll need to ask a grand alchemist to give you it…" Illya turned a glare towards Sakura's paramour. "… Unless you're an idiot with just swords on his mind and takes an apprenticeship that'll last for years or something."

Shirou had the decency to look away.

"I won't," Rin waved away the concern. "I'll take the usual method. I only need the class anyway."

"There could be more information the higher your subclass level is," Sakura pointed out.

"Hmm, tempting," Rin slyly muttered. "I'm just a bit torn between the two options now."

"Please don't," Illya begged. "We need all of your focus on the EXP pots."

Sakura let out a small giggle at the interaction before widening her own eyes. The small bundle of fur on her lap had pounced onto her chest and climbed onto her shoulders.

"Oh, right. You had a puppy…" Rin muttered. "You know, I don't think we ever named it."

"I don't even know how she managed to get it in the first place…" Illya bemoaned in frustration. Only Shirou decided to console her with a pat on her head.

"Have you named it yet, Sakura?" Shirou asked, taking out some regular bread from his inventory to nibble on, but Sakura knew he wanted to make a sandwich with it.

Black blobs were unappetizing.

Sakura hummed as she poked the puppy's nose. It let out a bark and hid its face in her collar. "I'm thinking of… Raijuu."

"Reasoning behind that name?" Rin asked with a little curiosity.

"The Raijuu was a wolf made of thunder and lightning," Sakura began. "It was the companion of the Raijin, the Shinto god of thunder. I think he looks like one, maybe?"

"Sure, he looks like a ball of lightning," Rin teased, "I don't think it has a standardized appearance though. So the reasoning is a little loose."

"I mostly named him that because he sleeps on my stomach every night. The Raijuu does that to people in legend too," Sakura honestly added. "What do you think, Illya?"

"Just name him Raijuu, I really don't care," Illya muttered, sending a minor frown towards the wolf. "It's honestly getting late, so we should hit the hay."

"Raijuu it is then," Sakura cheered. She picked up the puppy and held it close to her face. It barked and nuzzled her cheek. "Your name is Raijuu now! Do you like it?"

Raijuu barked.

"I'll take that as a yes!"

As Sakura nuzzled the puppy, the other guild members opted to crawl into their beds and rest for the night. Sakura followed suit, but in doing so she didn't notice the notification popping up in her menu and dismissing a moment later.

 _Thunder Wolf Pup – Raijuu – has been taken as your companion._

* * *

The night was tranquil.

Leaves scattered across the wind as midnight creatures crawled from the woodwork. From atop the many ruined buildings of Akihabara, the city looked as beautiful as he always remembered it.

Although, it was marred, changed due to an unknown phenomenon. Even to this day, the enchanter knew nothing of how it happened…

… However, that did nothing to stop him from finally beginning his plan.

He leaned on his Staff of the Wise Horned Owl and pulled himself up from the root he sat upon.

Everything began today, and it would take a week before the first major step would take place. A step towards a unified Akihabara, a step towards a brighter future, and a step towards protecting those who put their faith in him.

With everything proceeding safely, materials were being gathered and all other preparations exceeding schedule by a significant margin, the enchanter knew that only something truly unexpected could derail everything.

"Milord, I have returned."

The enchanter let a smile grace his lips. "Akatsuki, welcome back. How was your job?"

He could tell that the diminutive assassin behind him had shuffled her feet in nervousness, but he couldn't draw upon a reason why. In the meantime, he kept quiet and awaited her response.

"I managed to obtain the usernames of two of their guild members. I haven't managed to see the other members yet."

The enchanter nodded. "That's fine, you have a week or two until the deadline. We should still be able to make it."

"As you say, milord…"

She didn't mention anything about what's bothering her… Looks like he'd have to draw it out of her.

"Akatsuki, is there something bothering you?"

She remained silent.

"If there's something bothering you, then all you need to do is tell me. I can't help you without knowing what the problem is."

Once more, she remained silent.

Just as he was about to gently prompt her again, her mouth opened in reply.

"A Hamelin member noticed me," she said, guilt lacing every tone in her voice. "I'm sorry, Shiroe-dono, but I failed to remain unnoticed."

Shirogane Kei, or more widely known as Shiroe the Enchanter, blinked.

 _Oh no._

"Are you sure that you were caught?" Shiroe asked as a hint of panic rose from within him. "Maybe you were mistaken? It could've been something else."

Akatsuki shook her head fervently.

"I'm certain. A creature or a familiar of theirs found me and approached," She swallowed some bile as she continued. "I tried to retreat, but it was too fast and agile to evade. I had to turn around and destroy it. There's no doubt in my mind that they know that I exist."

Shiroe slumped back onto the tree root he sat on prior.

"Apologies, milord," Akatsuki said once more, although it came out more hollow than usual. "My failure has ruined your carefully laid plans."

If Hamelin knew that someone was watching them, then they'd be far more discrete in their future trade deals, making it almost a hundred times harder to record their names for later use.

That wasn't all. With their increased security, they could use their influence with a few of the combat guilds as EXP pot suppliers and get them to investigate, which would ultimately lead to Akatsuki needing to lay low for the time being.

But they would still be wary, enough so that they'd probably require patrons to enter their guildhall to sell it to them directly or in some other more secluded location.

At this rate… they'd never be able to get rid of Hamelin.

 _This… this complicates things, heavily._

However, Shiroe furrowed his brow upon noticing something.

Hamelin, from before the Apocalypse, was not a PVP heavy guild, nor was it a Raiding guild and certainly not a legitimate production guild. It was just a medium-sized guild that focused on completing missions leisurely.

So where did they get a familiar capable of keeping track of an assassin who built her skill set specifically to be unseen?

Something didn't add up.

"Akatsuki, can you describe the familiar to me?" He asked. "Please, it's important."

Akatsuki, upon noticing his fervor, steeled her resolve and relayed the information.

"It was primarily white, glowed blue, and shaped like a bird," she began. "It was almost ethereal in nature, but when I destroyed it, it did not disintegrate like most other familiars, but instead it crumpled into a pile of string."

She narrowed her eyes. "… Actually, now that I think about it, it looked more like silver hair than strings."

"… Akatsuki, are you sure about that?"

The assassin of Log Horizon nodded in confirmation.

"Well, you can relax somewhat," Shiroe reassured as he pushed his glasses closer to the bridge of his nose. "Because I'm almost a hundred percent certain that that familiar doesn't belong to Hamelin."

He got onto his feet and continued.

"I've memorized all the familiars that a summoner or a druid can have – it made planning raids easier – and I can say with a hundred percent certainty, that I've never heard or seen a familiar with that description." He faced the assassin directly. "In addition, Hamelin hasn't left the city since the Apocalypse started, which makes it all the more improbable that it was them because they would need to do so to obtain something as new as this familiar… or as useful, considering how it was able to keep up with you."

He leveled a stare directly towards her.

"Akatsuki," he called, causing her to jolt just a little. "All of these facts added together makes it incredibly unlikely to be them, but instead, these factors point to a different answer altogether."

Akatsuki widened her eyes as the answer dawned upon her. "This was a third party. Someone else is watching Hamelin."

He pushed his glasses up once.

"They could be watching any of the combat guilds, or a specific player, but that is the most likely answer," he confirmed. "Akatsuki, I'll need you to continue watching Hamelin. If this third party was using a familiar to spy on them as well, then they wouldn't want to be seen by them either. We can still take them down."

However, Shiroe furrowed his brow once more.

"The bigger issue is who exactly is this third party? Is it a player working alone, or is it another guild entirely? If so, then what reason would they have to monitor them, or are they monitoring them at all?" He groaned in subtle frustration. "There's too little information."

"… Should I attempt to make contact with them, milord?" Akatsuki asked.

This time, Shiroe shook his head.

"No, as it stands right now, we have too much to risk if we choose to make contact. Our operations should remain secret, we'd risk that if this third party learned of us now," he turned and began to walk away, Akatsuki following behind. "Presently, we can assume that they're in the same position as us. They lack information on us so it is likely that they won't meet us directly… but that familiar is a problem."

"It was rather stealthy despite the glow that it had," Akatsuki added. "I can destroy it, but I could risk revealing our guild if I do."

Shiroe opened his magic bag and pulled out a spyglass. "If our third party is keeping their distance, then I think you should too. This spyglass should allow you to see them from quite a while away. It should do, right?"

Akatsuki nodded. "I will graciously accept this gift, milord."

Shiroe laughed out wearily. "You could just accept it normally."

"It is a tool from milord! It must be treated with as much care as a newborn baby!"

"I-I see," Shiroe muttered. He coughed to keep his composure in check. "Well, the plan remains. Keep recording Hamelin members until the deadline, but this time you'll need to keep your distance. If you see the familiar again, try to find the summoner, but don't risk your position in doing so. If the opportunity presents itself, take it."

Akatsuki nodded and performed a salute. "As you command, milord!"

It admittedly looked cute because of her height.

He coughed once more. "W-Well, there is a time when you can risk it. If you manage to list all the members and we purchase the Guild Meeting Hall, then you can take some risks. By then, we'll have already completed all of our objectives."

Akatsuki nodded once more and vanished into the night, leaving the enchanter to gaze upon the wide and boundless starry sky.

 _A third party… this could complicate things._

If they're against Hamelin like they are, then it wouldn't be hard to convince them to follow along with his plan. However, if it wasn't Hamelin that they were looking for and it was someone else, possibly one of the players from the combat guilds, then it'd be a whole lot harder to predict.

Targeting the combat guilds was a death wish, a surefire way to get yourself publicly lynched and thrown out of the city manually.

Surely there would be nobody naive enough to attempt such a thing, right?

On second thought, maybe there was. If a summoner or druid managed to get a new high-level summon such as this agile blue bird, then perhaps it belonged to another combat guild seeking to monopolize the EXP pot market.

It was plausible, but then it could mean that the culprits could be DDD, Silver Sword, or even the West Wind Brigade – as unlikely as it sounded. None of those guild masters seemed like the type to do it… but perhaps if pushed into a corner, then that was a course of action that they'd take.

Shiroe sighed.

He was lacking information and potentially locking himself onto a single path for a conclusion, which was a completely bad idea. He needed to rationalize everything with an open mind.

The chance that the third party was one of the other combat guilds was high, but it could still be a singular player or a separate group altogether. Shiroe was not blind to the fact that power over a monopoly of EXP pots, which meant heavy influence over the combat guilds, was a tempting prospect – even for him.

Naturally, he wouldn't, especially considering how cruel it would be to keep people below level thirty solely to farm the potions.

However, the world was a wide place. You'd never know what kind of people existed out there.

If there was a group like that out there, or someone who would try and manipulate the combat guilds without insurance like he would eventually have, then Shiroe would need to bring his A-game.

Anyone who could even consider the attempt was dangerous.

He hoped this third party wasn't hostile.

He really did.

Otherwise… Shiroe wouldn't hesitate to blacklist them either.

* * *

The moon shined brightly above, drawing all towards its gaze and acting as the tender light to caress those who dreamed under it.

As for the ones who _weren't_ dreaming…

The blonde teen sighed.

It was the middle of the night, yet he had neither rested nor had he closed his eyes for even a second. Instead, his legs trudged upon the beaten dirt path as if he were trying to wade his way through jello.

He honestly loathed every second of it.

"We're almost to Akihabara," the familiar yet stern voice called out from ahead of him. The boy pried his eyes away from the beautiful moon that tried to bewitch him into slumber. "Keep your wits about you. I won't coddle you here."

"Lighten up, _Konkuraruzu Adobaiza~!_ " Called out a conversely cheerful voice.

"Just call me by my real name, please. Do not even try to say my username," he berated their other companion. "I do not want to listen to you butcher the pronunciation each and every single time."

"No! As an English teacher, it is my solemn duty to make sure that I can pronounce these words properly!"

He sighed heavily. "I swear you'll drive me insane."

"Hey, it's not like you can read my name either. I thought you could speak Japanese just fine?"

"I can speak it, but reading your overly complex language is beyond me," he bit back. "Do you honestly think that I, who teaches mostly non-Japanese students half-way around the world, would find the time to learn how to read your language's kanji?"

"Just make some time! Shove off a little work onto a student and call it extra credit!"

"That is _horrible_ advice!" He shouted back. The blonde boy between them merely sighed in resignation as their argument progressed. "In the first place, why would you shove off work in the first place?"

"Grades don't matter in the long run!"

"My ears are internally bleeding at this nonsense."

"Come on prof!" The lightly brown-haired companion forced out in exasperation. "What matters is that the students find what they want to do in life. Once they figure that out, all they need to do is work hard! No biggie!"

"Has that _ever_ worked out for your students?"

"Sure it did! I still talk to them, and it worked for me too you know!"

He sighed.

"This explains so little and yet so much."

The blonde pushed away part of his frazzled hair. He could practically feel the irritation radiating off of the taller adventurer. At the same time, he felt that the other one was also getting a tad irritated.

He just wished he knew what they were even talking about. Do adventurers go on weird tangents all the time or was it just these two?

"Oi, what's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you act as irresponsible as a teenager," he barked out. "I don't even know how you managed to crawl into adulthood."

"Y-You! Take that back! I'll have you know that I'm very much an adult!"

"How? Provide proof and evidence for that baseless claim."

"Well, for your information, I had two wonderful students that rely on my guidance daily!"

"Emphasis on 'had'. What are they doing now?"

The female adventurer momentarily ceased her steps.

Feeling just a bit worried, the blonde teen turned back to her and called out. "Miss adventurer? Are you alright?"

She seemed to bounce back and waved away his concern. "N-Nothing is wrong! Don't worry about it kid… I just can't really recall the last time I hung out with my students. It must've been months at least…"

From ahead, the boy could hear the male adventurer sigh to himself.

"You miss them, I'm sure," he said without a hint of uncertainty. "I acknowledge the feeling. If I hadn't decided to come to Japan, then I could've at least had a few familiar faces with me…"

He shook his head. "… But that is neither here nor there. Focus not on the past, but the present. That has been a common saying of philosophers these days. I believe that you should learn from it too."

"… I've heard of that before. I guess I forgot," she sighed. "Fine, no use in crying about it now. We already left that shit-hole of a region, no offense kid."

"None taken, miss adventurer," the teen easily accepted. "I ran from that life for a reason, after all."

The female adventurer had a mischievous smirk stretched across her face.

"Well, if you're so fond of running, then let's start running now!" She shouted as she bolted off. "I see the city! I told you guys that we'd be there!"

"I was under the impression that it was I who was leading us all to this city, despite the fact that I am not native to this server." The male adventurer, ConquerorsAdvisor, merely growled in irritation. "The number of maps that I had to read to get here…"

The blonde teen merely chuckled with well-meaning and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Do not worry, mister adventurer! I'm certain that this city will be different from where we came from! Look, there aren't any smoke clouds yet!"

"Emphasis on the 'yet'…" He muttered. He sighed and pushed forward, his Robes of True Guidance ruffling within the subtle wind. "Come on, if we let that monster of a woman run off ahead, then we'll lose sight of her."

The male adventurer trudged on as the teen followed behind him.

"You can call us by our names if you want to, you know?" The male adventurer added one last time. "It's not like we're exactly strangers anymore. We've been traveling together for a month now."

"It is as you say…" the blonde teen muttered, but he shook his head. "Perhaps when I feel as if I am qualified to call myself an adventurer, then I shall do so."

The ConquerorsAdvisor sighed. "Fine. Do as you wish."

The teen could only smile in response.

Truly, the teen was lucky that these adventurers chose to help him out and escape the Nine-Tails Dominion. With the situation in that city looking dire, it was only fitting that he left!

It wasn't as if there was any reason to stay in such a place anyway.

He had no future there, but here in the city of Akihabara?

Rundelhaus Kode will _definitely_ become an adventurer!

* * *

 **A/N: Last day of the month, only chapter of the month, and yes the adventurers are who you think they are. (Don't worry, this wasn't a last minute addition. They were planned to be added).**

 **I hate summer classes.**

 **Anyway, I'm sorry that this came out late. I've had my laptop reformatted (hard disk failure) and lost all of my files. I had to rebuild my draft from scratch and write up a whole new chapter. Luckily, it won't happen again because I've linked everything onto a personal cloud-storage. If you write, I suggest that you do it too. Never know when your laptop decides to go commit unalive.**

 **New Collab event, which means I'm very excited about the coming Case Files anime. Also, eat salt because I got both Ohoho (what do you mean she doesn't say that in her lines!?) and best Imouto Reines. Nyeh.**

 **The next chapter for this should come out sooner in the month after the next, so I guess you can look forward to that. I'll be trying to remake my 'My Ideal Academia' draft now. Whoopie.**

 **Review if you find any errors or something bothers you. I dislike typos and continuity errors as much as the next guy, but they always manage to worm themselves into these chapters.**

 **Until next time.**

 **Kappa.**

 **A/N 2: I made the explanation on what the EXP potion does much clearer.** **dialNforNinja pointed out that it was a bit confusing to read. I added some more descriptions so it sort of feels like an information bomb, but that's a necessary piece of info that shouldn't be overlooked.**

 **A/N 3: Typo. Ewie.**


	12. Chapter 12: A New Moon

**Chapter 12**

 **Beta: Worldbringer of Joseun**

 **Cover: LousGndiner**

* * *

Illya had been bored these past few days.

Hamelin had been meeting in the same old place as before, not even bothering to check for others like any regular paranoid drug dealer would – actually, that was sort of an apt description – and instead took a relaxing nap until the Black Sword Knight's representative arrived.

Idly, she noted down that this was a different player, again. Of course, the guy was jittery but that was to be expected from someone doing something they weren't used to, which this guy clearly was.

Illya decided to pay that bit of fact no more heed than usual and noted the username down on a piece of parchment. It wasn't anything like modern paper, much more grainy and coarse, but it wasn't something to complain about.

It was good that Krentelfal suggested buying the paper, it would help her remember their names. Granted, Illya could've memorized it herself without the need for the parchment, but that would mean that Illya had to memorize the names of a bunch of sleazebags.

Yeah, there was no way that was going to happen. She'd sooner commit familicide than do that, specifically upon several old stuffy German men.

Illya shook away the admittedly pleasing thought and focused on other matters, namely on where Krentelfal had wandered off too. She wasn't worried about his wellbeing per se, but more so about him being seen.

They had played it safe the entire time, ensuring that the honor-driven knight was kept out of the public eye, yet Illya knew deep down that the knight wasn't going to keep it up for long. His raw strength alone could take down several mid-level raid bosses, or possibly go toe-to-toe with a level-ninety raid boss. That sort of strength brought attention, certainly not something that they want at this stage of the plan.

Then again, if he wasn't siphoning from her locked passive skill then none of that would've been a problem. If only Illya knew how to access it.

Maybe one day. This world, Theldesia, still had unseen nooks and crannies filled to the brim with mystery. Perhaps one of those mysteries could allow her to do so. If not, then Illya was going to be the only one in a guild of powerhouses without an overpowered ability.

Seriously, the only saving grace she had was having a relatively high-level. The moment that her guild started to catch up to her, they'd be strong enough to hold their own in mini-dungeons, alone.

To put it into perspective, Rin, who used her own Gandr variations whenever she pleased, could destroy an entire pack or two of dire wolves as she was now. At her level of 18, most Sorcerers wouldn't be able to do that without being nearly mauled to death in the process. Defensive spells, physical enhancement, pure offense, Rin had all of those covered with ease.

All that added with the fact that she could get stronger.

Even Sakura, who was still sorta the weakest in the group, would be an absolutely _godly support_ with all the possible support summons that Druids end up getting down the line. Of course, her Foxtail race might interfere with that and give her weird skills or spells instead, but that also meant that there was a chance she'd get a strong summon from the actual Summoner class itself.

Then there was Shirou…

Illya didn't even need to think about it. All it did was reinforce the idea of keeping to themselves and not letting the local adventurer populace know of their skills.

Luckily, they were all too busy with the roles that Illya had assigned them, to do anything that would make them stand out too much. Rin was busy working on the potion with the ingredients that Krentelfal had gotten for her, while both Sakura and Shirou were handling relations.

How they were doing that exactly, Illya didn't know. She only knew how to manipulate people and wear a facade in magus meetings, not act genuinely nice and caring to people down on their luck and contemplating various ways to off themselves.

Not that offing themselves would do anything.

A familiar knock on the cement beside her dragged her attention.

"Krentelfal, good morning," Illya greeted with the grace she was drilled to have, literally. "Where have you been?"

"I found it odd that Hamelin frequently chose the same location to meet," Krentelfal began. "With that in mind, I scoured other locations. Most organizations I have been acquainted with made their businesses in more conspicuous locations. Mostly taverns or brothels. Sadly, I have not seen any of the riffraff. It is as if they're not afraid of being caught out."

"That's because they're not really paranoid," Illya replied in reason to his voiced concern. "They have no reason to be. From their perspective, who cares? The Black Sword Knights certainly don't care, those guys think more of the exponential benefits instead, emphasis on the EXP. There might be a few members who're concerned, but as long as Isaac doesn't care, then that's all that matters."

Countless leaves rustled as Illya sighed in irritation. "He's a good guy, but he's probably thinking more about his guild than any other player. Not that I'd blame him, Akihabara situation and all that." A memory of playing Elder Tale flashed through her mind. Specifically, about the time that Isaac had called Woodstock's guild weak.

"Ah, just thinking about that guild's leader makes me annoyed," Illya muttered. "I don't think you know, but their guild only accepts strong players above a certain level. They're a strong raid guild, but sometimes they let it get to their heads."

It was that arrogance that made Woodstock W start up his guild in the first place.

"I presume that they are not well-liked?"

"No. Not very much, no."

"Hmm, yes. I suppose that I can see why," Krentelfal mouthed. "Although, pardon me for informing, but I feel as if you've gone on a bit of a tangent."

 _Had she?_

Illya blinked for a few seconds.

"Oh! You're right… that's never happened before," Illya mumbled. The stress must be getting to her. She's never been one to trail onto a tangent before. Old man Acht would've beaten it out of her if she had… Definitely just the stress, yup. "Right then, where was I? The point is that Hamelin doesn't see the need to hide because there's nobody to hide from. As long as they don't know about us, then we can spy as much as we want."

Krentelfal nodded, but there was no hiding the slight concern in his eyes as he brushed a stray leaf from his pauldron. "As long as they don't know about us… well, it's not just our stealthiness that we need to be concerned about. There is still that Assassin, from a few days ago."

Illya frowned.

"I know, Krentelfal," She muttered in consideration. "That Assassin hasn't appeared since then. It could be that she ran for good… but it's definitely more likely that she's just gotten better at hiding. She might've taken a more ranged approach like we are."

Well, Illya was certain that the Assassin didn't have access to familiars made from strands of her hair, but there were spyglasses in the game, so she could have one now… Hang on.

"Speaking of the devil…" Illya muttered as she hunkered down, conjuring a second familiar behind her. "I think that's her."

Krentelfal made himself scarce and took cover within the concrete, spectral body perks, as they gazed towards the canopy below them. A glint of light flashed for just a second, long enough for Illya's familiar to dive down towards it.

It took a bit longer for it to reach the location, mostly because it swooped around their building to avoid being seen, but once it did reach the location, all they found were a few falling leaves.

Illya groaned in annoyance. "She noticed."

"Or rather-" Krentelfal cut in. "-she noticed the glint that her own spyglass gave off and fled. She is aware that she is not the sole person here, so we are fortunate that Hamelin's riffraff remains unaware."

 _Well, lucky me._

"I forgot to ask, did you follow up on the list I gave you?"

"But of course. Unfortunately, none of the adventurers on it appeared similar enough to this Assassin."

Illya sighed. "Don't worry about it. Just keep looking, who knows what that Assassin is after."

"As you command, Lady Illya."

When Krentelfal faded, Illya reclined her head back on the concrete wall beside her.

"… You could just call me Illya…" she muttered.

At the same time, her familiar – the one she had from the beginning to spy on the Hamelin member – returned to her and disappeared into motes of mana.

The Hamelin member had already left, so that must mean that the Black Sword Knights stood him up, which was strange. The Black Sword Nights were never late on their usual meetings, in fact, they were always on time. Which made this outcome all the more confusing. Judging from what Illya saw with her familiar, the Hamelin member seemed to rush away in a panic, but for what reason? Illya didn't know.

What could've grabbed their attention?

Illya decided to discard the thought for now when she received a message from Rin. It didn't really say much, other than asking for her to come to the Arcadia for something.

She could've just sent the reason why too… then again, this was Rin. Typing was not the twin-tailed magus' strongest suit. She probably tried to use a quill on it for a few minutes.

Well, Illya wasn't going to decline anyway. There was no longer a reason to stay, with the Hamelin peon already gone along with the Assassin. Krentelfal would know where she had gone, seeing as he was still linked to her mana source, so she could leave without issue.

She still couldn't help but wonder… what had Rin called her for?

* * *

"Hey, Sakura," Rin called from the Arcadia's backroom. "Can you come here for a second? I want to make sure the trial potion works."

Sakura, not wanting to be a burden, did as she was told and left her previous duty. She was initially sorting the books and tomes in the Arcadia, as Ferlna was a bit too busy purchasing ingredients from her supplier. Apparently, he was feeling a little under the weather, which meant that he wouldn't be able to deliver the store's supplies.

Honestly, both Rin and Sakura hadn't believed that excuse. Ferlna was stoic, but even when she excused herself, the Lander couldn't hide the initial hasty stammer. She was hiding something, but seeing as Rin wasn't worried and more than likely already knew what it was, Sakura simply let it go.

It did hurt just a bit to know that there was something Rin wanted to keep hidden from her.

"I'm here, Nee-san," Sakura said as she entered the back room.

It looked substantially different from the previous times she had been here. She had visited a few days ago just to make sure Rin was eating right, even though the 'food' that they had didn't even qualify as food. Sakura didn't want her to gain the bad habit of not eating properly. She wasn't sure how nutrition really translated with these adventurer bodies they possessed, but the Foxtail didn't want to take any chances.

"Good, here," Rin said as she handed her a potion. It wasn't the same color as the blue experience potion, but it had much more of a teal shading. "Supplies are low, but I wanted to see if this combination would do the trick."

How Rin could work with ingredients she'd never seen before still baffled Sakura, but her sister was a genius by regular magus standards so all she could do was grab and smile at the concoction.

"Do I have to be worried about anything when I drink it?"

"No, not really. There's a chance that the effect won't work, but that should be the worst of what could happen," Rin explained. "I've taken a few drops from the original EXP potion and diluted it. Using structural analysis on liquid forms isn't easy, but I managed to split it apart. The potion you're holding has all of the ingredients I found in the sample, synthesized as thoroughly as possible…"

Judging from the color, the synthesizing hadn't work.

"… but as you can see, it's not the same," Rin muttered frustratingly.

"Any reason you can't drink this yourself?" Sakura asked reasonably.

There was literally no reason for her to do this. Rin was an adventurer like Sakura, so any resulting effects that the potion would've given the twin-tailed magus would also have been given to the Foxtail sibling.

Rin nodded in acknowledgment before going off on her explanation. "I could do that, but there's always a chance that our differing physiology's could influence the effects. The midget mentioned that there were potions meant for different races. Remember the potion that gave Wolf-Fangs more strength but weakened other races?"

Sakura did remember. Illya had a couple of those in her inventory but only used them against much stronger bosses, apparently. She didn't really have the need to use them when they faced monsters with levels greatly lower than the guardian's own.

"… and you looked like you were bored," Rin added, her voice taking a much softer tone than before. Sakura expected her to say more, but when nothing else was said, the little sister nodded with a smile.

"Alright then," Sakura said as she downed the teal shaded brew.

It tasted like water, as did every apple and orange juice in this world, so it was easy to drink. It would've been easier if the texture didn't feel like sludge, though.

When everything tasted the same, the texture was what mattered. Potato chips might not taste like potatoes, but they were at least crunchy and enjoyable to chew. That was probably why Adventurers always ordered it in the taverns.

As to why potato chips would exist in this medieval fantasy game, Sakura didn't know. Maybe Illya would, but she wasn't here.

Sakura eyed the buffs appearing on her screen. "Hmm… It looks like I have an attack strength bonus, but it isn't very much, seeing as it's only ten percent. Other than that, there's a twenty percent defense buff, but that's it. I don't have an experience buff."

Rin silently cursed to herself and turned around to face the table behind her. On top of it, there seemed to be pots, kettles, and other archaic brewing devices. Compared to Rin's usual workshop, it seemed much less advanced.

"Damn… Was the synthesizing off? Did I mess up the ratio of the ingredients? I'll have to analyze it again," Rin sighed in frustration. That frustration faded when she smacked her forehead. "I'm an idiot, why didn't I think of that?"

Rin opened up her inventory and grabbed an EXP bottle. She had gotten one every day, but she had apparently been using her bottles for experimentation. While Sakura and Shirou each had a dozen bottles, Rin probably had under half of that.

"If analyzing liquids is an issue, then I should've just made it into a solid," Rin said as she poured the potion into a black pot. Once she finished, she held her hand out and touched it. In an instant, the pot had a few flecks of ice sprouting atop of it. "Decreasing temperature instead of increasing it. This is just fire-based magecraft but in reverse."

Rin's face scrunched up in irritation as she swatted something away from her face. Oddly enough, Sakura saw nothing.

"… Damn menu, always telling me things I already know."

"Nee-san?"

"Hmm, what is it?"

"Is something wrong?"

Rin blinked. "No, all I have to do is wait until the thing is completely frozen. I'm not too sure that I'll get different results from my initial analysis but there's always a chance."

"That's… not what I meant, Nee-san." Sakura winced slightly. The previous Matou took a deep breath to calm her – admittedly wildly – beating heart. "There's something bothering you. Shirou and Illya-chan might've not noticed, but you've been in the Arcadia earlier and leaving much later. You've spent more time here than in our own guild room."

Rin snorted, but the Druid could tell that it wasn't out of malicious dismissal like she would do to anyone else. "That's the smartest thing to do, right? The Landers here won't stay quiet for long. Shirou already told me that there's a few who want to start their little 'uprising' early."

 _That wasn't good._

"Luckily, our lovable boy toy managed to stop it," Rin muttered afterward. "Sometimes I wonder how he does it… Never mind. The point is that we're running out of time, I can't afford to dawdle back at the guild room."

Sakura frowned. "I understand, but don't you think that this is a little much? At this rate, you're going to start staying up all night…" the Foxtail Druid narrowed her eyes on her sister, or more specifically her suddenly averted eyes. "Nee-san!"

"Well, in my defense, I wanted to see how well an adventurer body deals with sleep deprivation."

Sakura huffed. "See? This is what I meant! You're pushing yourself too far! You need to sit back and relax for a bit, at least for a day."

"We don't have a day! Why can't you just be a good sister and listen!?"

Sakura admittedly stumbled back at the unexpected shout.

 _Be a good girl and shut up._

Rin, who had previously shut her eyes and screamed to the world, widened them in abject horror as she held a hastily risen hand to her face. "No, wait! I didn't mean to– I didn't mean to shout at you!"

 _Push it back, Sakura._

 _Grand– Zouken isn't here anymore. He's dead._

 _You aren't being scolded by him. Breathe._

Sakura took a subtle calming breath, holding it in like the emotions threatening to burst out from within her, and carefully exhaled. It was shakily done, which, unfortunately, her dear elder sister noticed.

"I-It's fine," Sakura forced out. "The stress was just… getting to me."

"No, no it's not," Rin muttered in her previous soft tone. "You were just looking out for me, that's all. You're right, I'll relax for today so you don't need to worry anymore…"

Sakura's face, admittedly, held back any visible reaction. She was 'trained' to keep her emotions under lock and key, and while it was a lesson she liked to forget, she couldn't help but fall back into it. Sakura wasn't the same person as she was before, but enough stimuli caused her to freeze up.

It wasn't so bad, but from time to time, Sakura would remember her time at the Matou Manor. Remembered the times that she'd have to listen to the orders of Zouken without question. Remembered the times that her limbs writhed as parasites crawled within her. _Remembered when the echoes in her mind would–_

Sakura suppressed a shiver and exhaled.

Forgetting… forgetting her life within that accursed manor, forgetting what she had been through… that wasn't easy. It would never be easy. In fact, it was literally impossible to forget. She could get over it, learn to deal with it whenever her family was around.

Shirou made it easy to feel safe, especially when she was wrapped in his loving embrace, so she would never have to think about it. Illya was bombastic and had always stirred up a little trouble here and there before they were transported, but they were welcome distractions. Even Rin would drop what she was doing once in a blue moon to hang out together as sisters.

But in the end… all those days she spent in the Emiya estate, those were nothing but flowery distractions. They allowed her to push her past deep down within her, but that was the thing about the past, it always caught up to you.

 _Looks like I still haven't gotten over it…_

"I'm sorry, Sakura…" Rin muttered. The eldest of the siblings walked up to her slowly. Eventually, she wrapped her arms around the now calmed down sister. "I shouldn't have shouted. I know I'm sometimes short-tempered, but that doesn't justify what I did."

 _You didn't do anything. This was all me–_

"If you're thinking something bad about yourself, I swear to Zelretch's balls that I'll hug the living daylights out of you," Rin berated as her arms pulled her closer. It was suffocatingly tight, but Sakura found that she wasn't pulling herself away.

"… Sorry, I overreacted."

"No, no you weren't. If anything, I'm the one who overreacted," Rin continued even as her suffocating hug relented. One arm unwrapped itself and found its way atop Sakura's head. A beautiful smile formed on the twin-tailed magus' face. "So let's just stop the crying, alright? That's an order from your big sister."

It took a moment but Sakura found herself nodding.

"Alright, Nee-san."

Sakura found her old smile working its way back onto her face, but it quickly fell once she noticed Rin's own smile dropping like lead. "A big sister… I haven't really acted like one since we got here, haven't I?"

 _What?_

As Sakura was about to retort, her eldest sister's palm hovered above her face, halting her words before they could leave.

"No, that's the truth here. I haven't been acting as a sister should ever since we got here. I was too distracted by our current situation but that's not an excuse," Rin pushed on. "Even when overwhelmed at being trapped in a different world or being shoved into a new body, a big sister should always think about her little sister first, but what have I been doing this entire time…?"

Sakura noticed the silence that Rin had fallen into. Eventually, her elder sister took a seat by the work table.

"... Did you know? The real reason why I wanted to help out the Landers?" Rin muttered. Sakura didn't need to respond to the leading question, which Rin interpreted as a cue to continue. "Illya was right about one thing. Staying in this town wasn't going to help to keep you safe, even though you don't want to be coddled anymore. We've done that enough in Fuyuki, I guess…"

Seeing Rin much more vulnerable was something Sakura wasn't used to. Her elder sister would always put up a strong front, most likely to act as a bastion that her fragile little sister could hide behind, but as she stood now, the reliable older sister was nowhere to be seen.

Instead, Sakura found the sister that was as equally uncertain as she was.

"Sometimes, I can't help but think that I should've agreed with Illya about leaving this town, but then I'd think about how you'd be sad," Rin muttered. "I'm selfish. I don't like to share, and if I have to then I'm doing it reluctantly. I'm short-tempered and I admit, stubborn to some degree. No matter how you look at it, I'm a mess of a person."

Just when Sakura tried to deny the claim, the self-proclaimed mess of a person pushed onward with a downtrodden tone.

"When I tried summoning a Saber, I messed up and got an Archer. The entire time during the grail war, I kept antagonizing you and the others. Hell, even when I was younger, I tried to save my classmates from some deranged monsters… but I couldn't even save a single one of them. No matter the choice I make, when it matters the most I always made the wrong one, messing up at the last possible moment." Rin's eyes slowly shut as she shuffled in her seat. "… So this time, I made the choice I wouldn't normally make. The choice that Tohsaka Rin, would never have made. The choice to stay in Akihabara and risk getting caught up in a large-scale civil war between Adventurers and Landers."

Sensing more, Sakura could only stand and listen.

"Ridiculous, isn't it? Call it a little superstition of mine – or whatever you want – but the choices I personally wanted to make were ones that ended up causing the most harm. The decision to stay here wasn't one I personally wanted, so maybe it'll all end up right for once… That's the real reason," Rin confessed as her eyes slowly became lidded. "I don't know why Shirou wanted to help these Landers, but that's his decision. What mattered to me the most was that this whole situation we found ourselves in won't end in a nightmare, not like the Holy Grail War… Was that so wrong?"

No, no it wasn't wrong.

In fact, Sakura sympathized with the notion more than most. More than anyone else, the plum-haired magus knew the nightmares of the Grail and what existed within. Not wanting such an event to happen again was normal… Although, it was almost funny. Rin's reason for staying, to try rid herself of her superstition, was almost entirely similar to Sakura's own.

Sakura's mind thought back to a certain boy, fighting tooth and nail against all odds to save her.

Because of her, her dearly beloved hero forsook his own dream. The dream that he so selflessly worked towards… it was a beautiful dream, one that Sakura would often bask in its radiance no matter how childish the rest of the world thought it was.

However, that radiance vanished. Her beloved still wanted to help others, Sakura knew that deep down, but he wouldn't do so while Sakura was in danger. If Sakura had chosen to run, then Shirou would never be able to save anyone.

She knew that he broke something within him when he chose to figuratively and literally try to sacrifice the world to save her. The fact that he did so forever lingered within her as a regret. Much like the Holy Grail's corruption, it flickered here and there, until it would eventually – perhaps after a decade or so – consume her mind, drowning her in regret.

In this new world, she could right her wrong and give back to her hero. That was why she picked to stay in this city, filled with despair and turmoil. It was so that Emiya Shirou could once again be the hero she knew him to be. Not just for herself, but for others.

Just as Rin selfishly chose to stay for her own reasons, Sakura did as well.

Her elder sister sighed. "Damn it, just when I told you off for being mopey. Look at what I'm doing now. If Archer saw me now, he'd probably be disappointed."

"That's not true!" Sakura followed up swiftly, finally seeing a chance to speak. "I might not have known mister Archer well, but I don't think he'd be disappointed."

"That's a nice thought Sakura, but the guy was a pragmatic ass-hat of a Servant. He would've chosen to leave without a doubt… like I would've done." Rin murmured. A loud sigh of exasperation followed soon after. "Besides, I can't let my cute little sister be sad. You finally made some new friends here. I'm not going to be the one to take them away from you now."

Rin rose from her seat and placed her arms around Sakura's shoulders. "I'm not going to let my own doubts stop me from being the sister you need. Understand, Sakura?"

And now her sister spun her reasoning into something more.

"… That's not fair, Nee-san," Sakura muttered. She couldn't even get her own words in. Here Rin was, pouring her heart out, yet she couldn't do the same. Rather, her own treacherous heart, as black and as hollowly fake as Sakura thought it to be, clenched at those heartfelt words.

Instead of words, Sakura pulled the eldest Tohsaka sister into a gut-wrenching hug.

Even though Sakura did not like the fact that she couldn't say anything, she couldn't fight the sheer joy rising up from within her depths as the hug grew tighter.

No more words needed to be said.

The Arcadia store chime, signaling the arrival of a customer, sent enough of a jolt between the sisters that they stepped back from each other and pretended that nothing happened.

Ferlna, being none-the-wiser, stepped into the back room with a bag in her hands. However, it was easy for the Lander to notice the awkward yet not-awkward air between the two.

"… I do not know what occurred here, but I trust it is no longer an issue?"

"Y-Yes, Ferlna-san."

"No problem, it was just a small issue."

"Then perhaps you can tell me about it later," Ferlna concluded. "For now, there is something that you all need to see, a rather interesting development a few blocks down."

She reached into her bag and pulled something small out.

Something small yet infinitely recognizable.

"Is that…?" Sakura found herself muttering. Her Foxtail ears twitched as her nose mimicked them. Her eyes widened in surprised disbelief as a conclusion was drawn. Rin was not far behind from her own deduction, but her own surprise was dampened by suspicion.

Ferlna held it in front of her face, her other hand adjusting her off-center pair of glasses.

"As you can see, there is much to discuss."

* * *

The journey to the Arcadia was _different_.

Illya hadn't noticed it at first, being more preoccupied with her own thoughts, but eventually, she did. It was impossible to ignore the fact that many of the usual bum-players weren't where they usually were. The sidewalks felt surprisingly empty without them to fill up space.

Did Sakura do something? Getting some of the adventurers up and raring to go was her job, but even Illya knew that the Foxtail Druid wouldn't have been able to do this, at least not this quickly. A week or so then maybe, but a few days? No offense, but that was out of Sakura's reach. Especially since today was a supposed relaxation day for the Foxtail.

"The streets are a bit empty today…" her brother voiced out from beside her.

"Yes, they are. It's weird," Illya admitted.

They had met up with each other along the way to the Arcadia, which was just a few blocks away. He likely got a similar message from their twin-tailed magus as well, which made it an even more pressing issue.

If only Rin would just explain it to her through the message system, but nope. That magus with a 'little miss perfect' facade wouldn't even do that. She insisted that Illya needed to be here for reasons the Guardian couldn't even wildly fathom!

Illya let out an exhausted sigh. "What are the chances that the other players decided to go out and do something?"

"Not likely," Shirou admitted with a wince. "Sakura and I shared progress and advice with each other for our tasks so I know much more about her results than everyone else, but she never mentioned anything like this."

His eyes roamed further. Illya's own mirrored his, but neither of them could find an adventurer… or a Lander.

"Anything on the Lander grapevine?" Illya prodded.

"There isn't much they're talking about, other than the potential civil war," Shirou admitted with some minor frustration. His eyes lit up a few seconds later. "Wait, Melhia did mention something odd happening in one of the central streets."

"Which is?" Illya asked.

"A couple of adventurers apparently opened a booth to sell things."

 _What._

Illya turned her head towards her dear brother with her mouth formed into a thin slit. "Details?"

"It hadn't opened by the time Melhia saw it, so she doesn't know what they're selling, but maybe everyone went to check it out?" Shirou mused. "As far as I know, it's legal. The head merchant around this district, Tomtom, allowed it, but even he doesn't know what it is."

Illya's eye twitched. "So a Lander just let an adventurer set up shop without checking what goods were being sold? That's a major loophole. What if they were crops taken from another Lander's farm?

Players were assholes, so it was a definite possibility. Why Illya had even heard of a guild that abused one of the quests to make a load of gold in no time. Luckily, one of the Game Masters noticed and managed to get it patched out.

Lucky bastards got to keep the gold, though.

"Apparently, they paid a lot to keep it secret," Shirou added. "Tomtom must've thought that it wouldn't matter. If it's illegal by Lander laws, then that'll be more fuel for anti-adventurer sentiments. However, if it's not, then instead the reverse would be true."

Illya cursed slightly in her head, unnoticed by Shirou. "So we'll need to see if their little booth is legitimate now. Their existence is now a variable that could heavily affect our overall deadline…"

If it's legal goods, then no biggie. More brownie points for adventurers, but if it isn't… Well, they'll be fucked and down a week of preparations.

"Alright, we'll talk about this later," Illya decided. "We're already at the Arcadia, so let's see what Rin wants–"

"YES! OH FUCK YES!"

Illya's legs just stopped.

So did Shirou's.

And so did the few Landers that were still around.

 _Was that… Rin?_

Turning her eyes to the Arcadia, the source of that highly questionable scream, Illya found herself getting worried. Not really for Rin, but for her own sanity.

… _No, that Tsundere couldn't possibly be– there's just no way._

Shirou, on the other hand, had tact the level of a moose and just walked right into the building.

"Rin! Are you al… right?"

"Shirou! What took you so long!? Where's Illya? I swear, I'm not holding myself back from these any longer if she's not here in TEN SECONDS!"

Finding the pressure of time wrapped around her, Illya took a few tentative steps into the Arcadia.

What Illya found honestly underwhelmed her.

Rin, the source of that outrageous moan, was holding a simple burger.

The Lander Ferlna and the twin-tailed magus' little sister, Sakura, also held in their hands a burger each.

Illya frowned in annoyance.

 _Sheesh._

From the sound alone, Illya thought Rin was getting drilled by someone. Not that Illya would've minded. If this was a classic case of NTR, then sure, Illya would've called her names and other mean and nasty stuff, but then she'd swoop in on her dearly beloved brokenhearted brother and mount–

Her nose twitched as her heightened senses noticed the smell hit her. Illya found her eyes widening along with both her Wolf-Fang ears twitching in response.

"Is that…?" Illya muttered in slight disbelief.

 _No… it can't be._

"You guessed it, midget!" Rin blurted out loud after taking a large bite out of the burger. She chewed faster than the little Einzbern had ever seen anyone chew and swallow it all like some sort of wild beast. In hindsight, they were all probably starved beasts. "It tastes and smells like a burger! I don't care how fat this will make me, anything is better than the shit we had before!"

Idly, Illya wondered if they could really get fat from eating too much in this world, but she pushed it out for the more important matter. "You called us all here for this?"

"Yup."

Upon getting her answer, Illya pulled her still-sorta-catatonic brother into the Arcadia, shut the Arcadia entrance door, locked it, and grabbed Rin by her shoulders.

"Where."

It wasn't a question.

"The backroom," Rin replied instantly, not feeling the least bit intimidated, as she held the semi-circle of burger she had left. "Ferlna brought a couple in a bag on her way back from buying supplies. It looks like there's one for all of us."

Illya didn't really hear the rest of what Rin said as she was already in the back room, locating the bag of burgers, and grabbing one of them.

Shirou, having taken a calmer approach, walked in and carefully studied what he saw around him. Namely, every single female in the Arcadia sighing blissfully as they ate burgers like they were in a fast food joint.

Granted, Shirou never really had fast food. The few times he did, he appreciated them for their cheap price and relative quality, but those things would kill one day. The number of things that his structural analysis picked up on a whim was too much to ignore.

These burgers, however, Shirou could make an exception for.

He didn't know why, or how it worked, but his structural analysis seemed to tell him everything about the burger, and how it was made.

The patty, made from an assortment of minced meat and spices, was fried on both sides with garlic and a stick of butter. The lettuce, carefully peeled from… something, his analysis couldn't determine what. The ketchup, mostly just tomato paste but added with several other unseen spices to keep the flavor up.

In short, it was an unbelievably standard home burger, made from ordinary home chef methods, but that was exactly what Shirou found hard to believe. There was no secret method for its preparation.

 _Absolutely none._

Even though Shirou himself toiled away at their guild room kitchen, doing the exact same thing to try to make anything halfway decent without accidentally turning them into the blackest paste known to man, only to end up with the result known as 'failure'.

He needed to know!

The fact that his structural analysis couldn't determine anything further hurt his soul more than he ever thought possible… but that faded once he sank his teeth into the unhealthy, yet undeniably delectable, player-made burger.

The fact that it didn't taste like wet and soggy crackers brought tears to their eyes, literally in Rin's case.

The next few minutes were a blur. The adventurers didn't know what they were doing, and all they thought of was the burger they had eaten to the very last crumb.

Their gluttony faded and all that remained was curiosity.

"Ferlna, where did you buy those?" Rin asked, her face drawing closer to the bespectacled Lander like a woman on a mission. Strange enough, Sakura and Shirou were doing much of the same.

"Was it the new booth opened by adventurers?" Illya's voice cut through.

Ferlna blinked. "Yes, that's right. I'm surprised you already knew."

"Everyone! We're moving out!"

"Way ahead of you, midget!"

"Wait, wait just a moment! Have you all not noticed that you all are acting a just a tad bit too odd? True, this is a wonderful taste fit for the king's own personal palette, but have you all lost your minds?" Ferlna's voice of reason cut through the food-deprived adventurers.

Unfortunately, there were no food-deprived adventurers in her shop. All that was there was an open door, swinging back and forth from the stray gusts of wind.

Her brow twitched.

"Hmm…? Strange, I had thought she was here a second ago," came the familiar voice of that old ghost Krentelfal. Ferlna still didn't know why he hung around those adventurers, but she'd learn in time. Hopefully from the adventurers themselves. "Why, greetings to you Lady Ferlna. Mayhaps thou knowest where our Lady Illyasviel has wondered off to, and why?"

She sighed.

"I wish I knew."

Ferlna decided that she was going to have an afternoon shower. Perhaps the adventurer shenanigans would fade from her mind if she did so.

She wasn't very hopeful about that, though.

* * *

It took a while, but after regaining their wits and sanity – as embarrassing as it was to admit that they lost them in the first place – the Emiya Family managed to follow the trail to the burger booth. While none of them had actually checked with Ferlna as to where this burger booth was, they had used reasonable deduction and did the obvious.

There were more adventurers and Landers making their way towards a street, two long lines of both adventurers and Landers alike stretched far, possibly into the next street over, as they stood for an aggravatingly long wait.

At the very front, was a horde of people. Most of them were adventurers, but that was not surprising considering that they had all gone a literal month without tasting something as simple as a burger.

An everyday commodity in their corporate-driven world, but now they all longed for that simple and addictive taste again.

"The line is too long," Shirou muttered. "Even if we stood there, it'd be hours until we get an order. By then, the booth might already be sold out."

"Their menu isn't that large, but there is variety," Sakura muttered. "Which means that they know how to cook food. Actual food. That's…"

"Insane," Rin cut in. "Just look at that line. Forget actually ordering. People will be camping here overnight just to eat one of those. It's a monopoly of the business. They're raking in a literal fortune."

Illya swallowed some saliva threatening to leak out of her mouth. That wasn't good. She was the leader so she needed to remain composed… but those burgers! She might have the nineteen-year-old body she so dearly craved now, but the child mind within her threatened to break out into a tantrum.

Illya ignored that her child mind was also technically nineteen.

"Let's get out of here. We need a better view." Illya stated as she walked out of the line. A few adventurers eyed them, keeping an eye out in case they tried to shove into the line. "There's no point in lining up right now. Might as well try and gain as much information on this as possible."

Once the Emiya Family left the area, or rather out of sight from the hungry line of adventurers, they neatly tucked themselves around the corner of a relatively far alleyway. Far enough to not be noticed, yet close enough to glean a glimpse of the burger booth.

"I think I can see the title," Shirou said. He structurally reinforced his eyes and gazed far, farther than any regular man could, and noticed the results. "The booth's name is Crescent Moon."

"… Those are Crescent Moon Alliance guild members acting as attendants," Illya muttered.

"You mean Marielle-san's guild?" Sakura muttered. Somehow, Illya wasn't surprised that Sakura already knew who she was. More than likely, the plum-haired druid had met her while out on the job, or sometime earlier.

"Looks like it," Rin replied, her own eyes reinforced. "They're all wearing uniforms. They must've known about the cooking method for a while now."

Illya preemptively held her hands out. Not surprisingly, she managed to catch both her brother and Sakura, both of whom were walking towards the stand with gusto.

"What are you two doing? What, do you really think that they'd tell you how to cook?"

"W-Well…" came Sakura's somewhat embarrassed reply.

"They could," Shirou optimistically pointed out.

Illya blinked.

 _By Zelretch's balls, they really did._

"Like hell, they will. They're sitting on a gold mine," Rin said, shooting Shirou's hopes straight from the sky. "Nobody with a brain would willingly give out that sort of information."

"Yeah…" Illya muttered. "Which makes it all the more strange that it's the Crescent Moon Alliance that's selling the burgers."

"Reasoning?" the skeptical twin-tailed magus prompted.

"Marielle is many things, a caring guild leader and a friend to all, but she isn't a businesswoman," Illya muttered. "If it was her who discovered it, then she'd have told everyone she could. The fact that they managed to form themselves into a semi-coherent business means that someone else is behind this."

Was it Henrietta? That secretary was competent, but she didn't have the guts or smarts to pull something like this off.

 _Something's fishy._

"At least it's leaving a good impression," Sakura pointed out. "Look, the adventurers aren't moping around. The Landers are enjoying themselves."

Rin hummed. "True, but the guys at the back of the line are getting impatient. That's leaving some bad vibes too… Illya, do you have an idea on who's behind it yet?"

Illya shook her head. "Not yet."

Think, Illyasviel von Einzbern. Think!

Who else is connected to the Crescent Moon Alliance? Woodstock? Ichimonjinosuke? No, if it was them then it would've been their own guilds. It needed to be someone completely unaffiliated to a guild. Someone smart, without a guild, and enough guts to pull off an idea like this.

If Illya didn't know any better, she'd have guessed that it was the Villain in Glasses that was–

 _The Villain in Glasses._

Like a rusty cog, it was slow but eventually gained enough traction and momentum to spiral into something more. More and more gears turned until the whole motion was apparent.

 _It fit._

No guild, which meant he had to rely on another. Illya knew from her solo days that the Villain in Glasses would occasionally drop by the Crescent Moon Alliance for _wildly_ speculated reasons. The Elder Tale forums would not shut up about it, especially the creepy little subset of fans that worshiped the literal ground he walked on, spouting about how it was some sort of crazy conspiracy.

 _Like gears in a cog._

This was also a part of his modus-operandi. The few fully recorded, several hours long, Debauchery Tea-Party raids on YouTube – to say that Illya had a lot of spare time back in Fuyuki was an understatement – showed the man in his element. Every time, that man would be in the back line, almost as if manipulating them like willing puppets to a grand play.

 _It fit._

 _This was the Villain in Glasses' work._

However, Illya didn't want to jump to any conclusions. Even if it all fit like a jigsaw puzzle, there was an issue with it. Namely, the motivations. Why would Shiroe, the Debauchery Tea Party's strategist, open a burger stall?

She could rule money out, seeing as the guy was loaded, and she could also rule out the petty reason of pride. If this was his work, then what was the end goal? Create a nation-wide chain of restaurants and never ever have to work a day in his life? What if it was a more outlandish one, like creating a spy network…

… It was no good. Illya couldn't figure it out.

She was good at magus politics, battle, and acting cute and innocent. This was not within her forte. She just didn't know what that Villain in Glasses wanted!

"I know that look," Rin muttered. "You know who's behind this?"

After a second of mentally collecting herself, Illya answered.

"Yes, I think I do. His name is Shiroe, a rather well-known name here," Illya muttered back. "However, I don't think I can do anything with that information."

"Why not?" Sakura asked with nothing but curiosity.

"Because if that man's planning something, then he's not going to be out in the public eye," Illya replied. "While I personally don't know him, I do know that he's not the type to talk with others, especially strangers."

"Shiroe…?" Shirou muttered in subtle surprise, possibly about how similar their names were. "Was he the person you come back to town to try and meet? Do you two already know each other?"

"No, I don't know him. I met him once, but we didn't talk," Illya reluctantly admitted. "I only know him by his reputation. His knowledge on Elder Tale – or I suppose it'd be knowledge on Theldesia now – was almost unrivaled. He knew all the important players and all those players knew him. It was like he had his own little organization, that's mostly why I tried meeting with him before. Unless you planned a meeting beforehand, you wouldn't be able to even meet him."

Seriously, the guy was a recluse. He had his own blog where he'd post information on the game, but he'd never reply to any questions people had… Well, dumb questions. There were a few good ones, such as the interval between spawning of mobs at a farming location when the number of players exceeded the limit. Those would be answered without issue.

He knew a lot about the game, which translated well here in Theldesia. Whatever knowledge that was trapped in the Villain in Glasses mind was valuable. The extent of his knowledge about this world, even Illya didn't know the limits of it. Granted, some of that information could be rendered moot.

Oh, she wished. She wished that she knew him. At least then she'd have someone else to rely on in this game, an ally that she could pry into for knowledge. More than that, if she knew him personally… well, then Illya wouldn't really be different from the other players, specifically the ones that hounded him on the forums for information. The guy stayed out of the limelight for a reason.

In that sense, while Illya highly respected him, she knew that the two of them would probably not get along very well.

"So he's like a magus then, but for a game?" Rin muttered in consideration. Illya didn't really refute it. The Debauchery Tea Party's Shiroe was intelligent, reclusive, and a hoarder of knowledge. If he had a self-destructing abundance of pride, then Illya would've said he was a magus passing his time in a game. "Hmm… Well, I honestly don't know what to say. He's opened a burger joint, which should grow into a franchise soon given enough time. Do you think his plan is similar to ours?"

 _In other words, was he gaining the power to ensure he wouldn't be touched?_

Illya pondered.

"Not likely… but there's always a chance," the snow-haired guardian admitted. "No matter who they are or where they come from, if they're desperate enough then they'd do anything."

She would be a hypocrite to deny that. Anyone in the Emiya Family would be.

"Should we head back or continue watching them?" Shirou asked as his eyes flickered between Illya and the booth. Of course, Sakura was doing the same.

"We should head back. There's no point staying here," Illya finalized. "We can come back later. Either way, this development benefits us. Good food makes people happier, which would do this miserable city some good."

Every member nodded at that simple fact.

"I guess you're right…" Shirou muttered with just a subtle hint of conflict. He really wanted to interrogate them, maybe just ask for some hint or clue, about how to make actual tasting food, but as mentioned before, that was nigh-impossible. "Let's head back."

Illya nodded in relief. At least he wasn't going to do something stupid here.

Once they got back, Illya would be updating their plans. Crescent Moon' burger stand, the Villain in Glasses' hand in it, and their overall goal, what exact purpose they all served could only be told in time. All the Einzbern magus could hope for was that it wouldn't interfere with her own.

It'd be absolutely horrible if they did, but Illya imagined that to be unlikely. This was a food stand, and if gaining enough influence was the goal of the Debauchery Tea Party's Strategist, then it wouldn't conflict with hers. The Emiya Family was going to be selling EXP potions, not whatever burgers they had… but Illya had to admit, they had a much bigger variety.

Coffee, tea, burgers, steaks, and even parfaits could be made. The possibilities that existed behind Crescent Moon were absolutely endless, just like the food industry back on their world…

Illya's eyes drifted to the Landers around her, some of them eating burgers of their own.

… Or perhaps it was something more. The Landers, if they hadn't reacted to how horrible their usual dishes were, would end up flocking to Akihabara all in order to sate their curiosity. To see how much their food differed from the Crescent Moon.

It inevitable that this chain reaction would end up creating a Food-Renaissance for them all. Kingdoms and their Nobles would seek it all out, alongside the Player-made Merchant Guilds in every major city.

In one fell sweep, the Villain in Glasses had prepared to dip his fingers into every pocket that existed in Theldesia.

Illya suppressed a shudder.

… They'd need to redouble their efforts in the EXP potion department. She'd even stop stalking Hamelin and leave that entirely up to Krentelfal to help the twin-tailed magus out. It was much, much more important that they reproduce that potion now.

While it was true that, because of how large in scope the Crescent Moon would end up becoming, it would also be infinitely harder to keep the food preparation method under lock and key. It will be released one day, but when that day comes, Shiroe the Enchanter would already have enough money and power to do what he wanted.

… but this was that Shiroe we're talking about. That guy was as passive as they came. Could being in Theldesia for a month change him into someone capable of such a grandiose plan?

Illya didn't know, not a single bit, and she found herself frustrated at that.

No matter, she would not allow Shiroe the Enchanter to gain enough influence, at least not without the Emiya Family standing alongside him as equally influential peers, or perhaps even more.

The Villain's food and the Emiya Family's Potions, which would have more clout among the players…?

"Hurry up the line!"

"H-Hey, stop shoving!"

"Shut up! At this rate, they'll get sold out!"

Illya heard two footsteps halt instantly. Turning back, Illya found both Shirou and Sakura standing there, eyes wider than she thought possible from the normally calm pair.

Illya's Wolf-Fang ears flickered. "What's wrong, you two?"

"You absolute clown of a woman! Can you not cause a scene!?"

"Look, mister Enchanter, I've been traveling for a literal month! So sorry if I'm just a little cranky!"

Shirou found his jaw opening slightly as he turned back. Sakura followed shortly after. All Illya could do was stand in confusion. Was the talking back there causing issues for them or something?

"… Impossible," Rin muttered, which surprised Illya because she didn't even notice that the Tohsaka Magus was as surprised as them. "That voice…"

"E-Excuse me, miss customer, but could you please be patient? We might run out today, but we'll certainly have more by tomorrow!" An attendant tried to placate the unknown and unruly customer.

"B-But!"

"You heard the woman, now act like the adult you claim you are and be silent."

"Hey! At least I–"

"… Sensei?"

Silence finally claimed the woman, much to the Crescent Moon attendant's, and every other patron's, thankful relief. However, such relief didn't exist for the Emiya Family.

Eyes wide, jaws dropping, that was what affected her guild, but for the life of her, she couldn't tell why!?

Illya thanked her decision to make herself taller in her adventurer body because now she could see an adventurer, followed by a much taller yet lankier adventurer who was shouting his confusion, burst out of the line of adventurers in an almost maddened sprint.

The strange adventurer couldn't stop turning his – or more accurately her, now that Illya saw her body – head from side to side. It was frenzied, hurried, and one that the Einzbern Magus could just tell was littered with just a bit of hope.

Finally, she stopped as her eyes locked onto one direction.

 _Their_ direction.

"… No way," She muttered.

"What is it now!?" The adventurer beside her shouted in frustration. "We've been in that line for an hour! Why have you so brazenly chosen to abandon it?"

The adventurer wore a helmet that covered every portion of her head or more specifically a Kabuto Helmet, which meant that she was of the Samurai class. She raised her hands, no doubt to access her inventory, but when she did, she unequipped her helmet–

Illya's eyes widened.

 _That face._

She recognized that face.

The tiger-like Wolf-Fang ears on her head were new, but there was no mistaking the light-brown hair of a brunette, cut short like a boy's yet still holding some form of feminine charm, sharing an equally brown pair of eyes.

"I can't believe it…" Illya found herself muttering. There was only one reason for that. That reason was that this adventurer was Shirou and Sakura's caretaker for years on end. The woman who came around their home every now and then…

"... Shirou, Sakura?"

… was none other than _Fujimura Taiga,_ the Tiger of Fuyuki–

"Who are you calling a Tiger!?"

"Stop attacking me, woman! The main cities are Non-PvP zones, you miserable excuse of an adult! You need to get used to your own username!"

The surprised expressions on the Emiya Family subtly faded.

… And she was _exactly_ the same as before.

Illya could only sigh and rub her forehead.

 _This… complicates things._

She stared on at the two adventurers arguing in the middle of the street.

 _It really does._

* * *

 **A/N: Shiiit. Late. By a day. But still late. Shiiiiit.**

 **Okay, so as hard as it is to believe, I was busy this entire month. Would you like to know why? My college's second year started. That's it. New classes and a new schedule to get used to, all of which was annoying for the first few weeks.**

 **I also now have a seething irritation at Volleyball. My arms hurt all the time.**

 **I live in Asia, so all you Americans are having a nice break and Steam summer sales, while I need to get my student face on and study. Dang it. I wanted to play Ace Academy.**

 **Other news, related to the chapter. Yes, I had an emotional scene here but this was, in my opinion, needed. The characters were starting to feel different from canon so I wanted to take a dip into their mindset the entire time, especially for Rin and Sakura. Shirou might get his own in some future chapter so you'll know why he wants to save the Landers too. We're also now slowly entering the Round Table arc. Unfortunately, this chapter was longer than I wanted, but I couldn't find anything to cut out. Hence, this.**

 **Also, yay. It's Taiga (if you all haven't guessed already. I made it pretty obvious on who one of the adventurers was).**

 **Other news, less related to the chapter. El-Melloi case files anime is coming this month so I'm happy to get a glimpse at Waver's personality here. I couldn't find the time to read the case files novel, but the manga was cool.**

 **Other news again, unrelated to chapter. FGO released their new chapter and I managed to roll the mad Archer who fights like a berserker and doesn't have a bow. I didn't have a single-target buster Archer so he's gonna be great. Maybe I'll try solo a CQ with him.**

 **That's all I really have to say. Once again, thanks to my Beta for being prompt to point out how dumb I am. Leave a review if you found errors that we both missed, or don't. No one's forcing you.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Kappa.**


	13. Chapter 13: Familiar Faces

**Chapter 13**

 **Beta: Worldbringer of Joseun**

 **Cover: LousGndiner**

* * *

"Eheheh, sorry about that little scene back there," the woman known as Fujimura Taiga apologized. Her feet shuffled beneath the chair she sat on. "That annoying enchanter… can't he keep his mouth shut?"

A sigh came from behind her. "'That annoying enchanter' is still here."

She narrowed her eyes and frowned in an overly exaggerated manner. "Which begs the question, why are you still here? I thought you said you were going to find a place to stay."

"A _'safe'_ place to stay," he emphasized. "Every single player and Lander that I've met in this city has either openly ignored me or looks to be planning my demise. Frankly, I'm not sure which is worse. I thought you said that this was one of the friendlier cities on this server!?"

"No need to shout!" Taiga argued, unaware of the hypocrisy. "Akihabara is a great place! Trust me, last time I was here people were helping each other left and right! It's not my fault that everyone's acting weird."

As the two of them bickered, the Emiya Family could only look on with hesitance.

Fujimura Taiga, the teacher and caretaker of Emiya Shirou with a larger than life personality, was here in Elder Tale. More specifically, sitting on one of the spare chairs in their guild room.

The Samurai and Enchanter were getting a bit heated in their argument back at Crescent Moon, so Illya decided to break it up between them and drag them back to their guild room. Well, it was more Shirou and Sakura who did that, but Illya was still taking credit for the idea.

"She hasn't changed, has she?" Sakura whispered in honest relief.

"No, Fuji-nee is still Fuji-nee," Shirou agreed with closed eyes. However, they opened in open-minded curiosity. "I'm surprised, though. I didn't know she played Elder Tale… or even had the time to."

 _She likely shirked her job by spending time in the game._

Elder Tale, as Shirou had no doubt come to understand, was a game that required their player base to put in a load of time to become even the slightest hint of rewarding. Most MMORPG's do, actually, which might explain why MMORPG's – as a game model – have been losing its luster as the years go by. People had other commitments to do rather than spend it on a game like this. Only hardcore nostalgia could bring those players back.

It was sad in a way, Illya supposed. However, while she liked to think about games in her free time, there was the current matter at hand. Namely, what to do about these two adventurers?

Illya naturally white-listed both – they wouldn't be able to enter the guild room otherwise – but when the Tiger of Fuyuki learned that they had all made a guild, she immediately made a fuss about joining. Being white-listed wasn't enough for her, apparently.

While Illya would have done so, there was still a certain… something, that needed to be addressed. Namely, a secret that everybody in this room shared barring her. The so-called 'stranger' Enchanter, couldn't be more obvious as to who he was.

Illya was an Einzbern, one of the oldest magi families in existence, so being taught about Clock Tower politics was a must, even if they told her that her sole purpose was to bring home the grail, which Illya wouldn't do in a million years knowing exactly what lurked within it.

She mentally ignored that it was her family's fault that the grail was corrupted.

Illyasviel von Einzbern recognized that Enchanter's face, and she was sure that Rin did too. A quick glance to the twin-tailed girl let her see that, instead of slouching over her bed in relaxation, she sat like the polite little lady that the students of Homurahara had believed her to be.

They all knew this facade too well. It was a familiar sight whenever one of Shirou or Tohsaka's classmates made an occasional but rare visit. Normally, Rin wouldn't act like this, but due to the fact that these two were here, one of them was her old teacher and the other was her future professor at the Clock Tower, she wanted to make a good impression.

Shame that the Enchanter would know it was a facade instantly. He had no doubt been embroiled in the Clock Tower's constant parade of inter-politics.

"Hey, you two~?" Illya called, a little hint of her previous childishness creeping up her throat. It had been a while since she felt a little playful. Maybe it was the additional magi's presence. "Fujimura-san and mister Enchanter? If you two could stop arguing, that would be great."

"Yes, I believe that would be a wonderful idea," Rin voiced out. It felt unnatural with how she acted literally hours before. "Fujimura-sensei, if you would kindly take your seat and not cause a disturbance like a while ago, we can have a reasonable conversation."

"A-Alright then, Tohsaka-san," the Samurai, who had gotten out of her seat during Illya's monologue to try and smack the Enchanter, sheepishly got back to her seat with a wry smile. "How have you been by the way? All of you?"

"We've been doing well, isn't that right? Shirou? Sakura?" Rin called out.

"Yeah, no problems so far," Shirou said with a friendly smile. No doubt a nostalgic sight to the Tiger of Fuyuki. "We were confused when we first came to, but we're alright now."

"Ah, I see, I see…" Taiga muttered before turning her Wolf Fang eyes – Illya was inwardly glad there was another Wolf Fang – to Sakura and gave her a soft smile. "How about you, Sakura? Any issues with… these?"

Her previously mentioned Wolf Fang ears, which looked closer to tiger ears than a wolf, twitched on demand.

Sakura smiled in turn as her own ears twitched. "I'm doing fine. It was a little odd hearing from a different set of ears, but I don't really notice it unless I pay attention," her tail wrapped around from behind so she could pat out the frizzles. It wasn't eternally smooth like static in-game textures. "This tail was much harder to get used to, admittedly."

The number of times she rolled on her back in her sleep, waking up from bending it in a weird way, or even from accidentally sitting on it, there were too many to count. Illya counted herself lucky that she only had a small tail. In comparison to hers, Sakura's was absolutely ginormous. There was a pun in there somewhere.

"Ah, I get what you mean," Taiga said sagely as she nodded her head. Her tail, which was streamlined instead of wild like most Wolf Fang, twitched up and scratched her cheek. "But once you get used to it, they're fun to mess around with! I don't even need to use my hands sometimes."

Illya chose to ignore Sakura's blush as she sneaked a glance towards Shirou, who remained as oblivious as ever. Rin, however, didn't and kept her smile fixed. She had to. Otherwise, she'd be showing something unsightly before their guests.

One would wonder, why was Rin acting with this facade once again? The answer was simple if they stopped skirting around the topic.

Illya saw both Shirou and Sakura mimicking her polite facade, but that was only with the Enchanter. They also wanted to make a good impression on him, for Rin's sake at least. The two of them have enough reasons to dislike magi, Sakura more so than others, but they respected the Enchanter. Not for his status as a magus, but as a teacher.

The Enchanter – who went by the name ConquerorsAdvisor – wore the same face as one of the few, if not the only, respectable Lords of the Clock Tower in London. A magus that had risen and taken his old mentor's position and constantly churned out quality magi from his class like nobody's business.

There was zero chance for coincidence. Even if it was a random fan of his that had used an appearance changing potion to mimic him, there was no denying the way his eyes silently judged the people around him without discrimination.

Lord El-Melloi II, Waver Velvet, the highly acclaimed professor of Modern Magus Studies at the Clock Tower.

That twin-tailed woman just wanted to make a good impression on the guy, or it was just her pride speaking. Before they were all spirited away from their original world and shoved into this one, Rin had a scholarship prepared for her by the very same prestigious lord sitting across from her.

Charity, from a magus, was hard to come by. Charity in the form of a scholarship was even more so. Charity from a very well-known and renowned professor of the Clock Tower, one in a hundred. Rin was that one in a hundred.

"… Tohsaka?" the Enchanter found himself muttering. He stumbled as his fingers grasped for something before letting his hands fall onto his lap in mild irritation. He shrugged it off and continued. "No, don't mind me. Continue reacquainting yourselves."

"I would've done that without you telling me!" Taiga exclaimed with a huff. "Anyway, I truly am glad that you're all okay. However! What are you all doing playing this game? And why are you all in Akihabara in the first place? If I'm not remembering this wrong, Fuyuki's location in-game is in the Nine-tails Dominion. Did you guys travel here too?"

"One at a time, Fuji-nee," Shirou pleaded.

"Nine-tails…?" Sakura muttered with a tilt of her head. "This is the first time I've heard of that. Nee-san?"

"I haven't read much of the geology books here yet. It seems that an explanation could be had. Illya, perhaps you could provide one?" Rin asked politely.

Illya sighed and nodded at Rin's prompt, ignoring the facade once more.

"No, Fujimura-san. They didn't travel here from that place. They're here because of me," Illya started. "I wanted to play Elder Tale with them so we made accounts a month ago. Normally with new accounts, they'd be sent to a tutorial island before being sent back to their IRL counterpart location, which would've been the Nine-tails Dominion. However, because that place is usually gloomy and full of try-hards, I thought that moving them to Akihabara was a better idea."

She ignored the fact that she stayed up all night doing the tutorials for all their characters, individually because she only had one laptop which meant that it took three times longer than normal. By the time she was done, it was nearly midnight. Shirou would've lynched her if he found out.

"Ah, that explains why they look the same as before. Except for you, Illya-chan. You were cute before but now you're beautiful. It's like you're all grown up now!" Taiga commented to Illya's silent glee. " _Konkuraruzu Adobaiza_ over here had a spare appearance changing potion that I could use. I had to take him here as compensation, though."

"Stop butchering my home tongue and call me by my real name…" the Enchanter said with a tired sigh.

"It's great to see you all again," Taiga repeated, ignoring her month-long companion. "Let me tell you, traveling here wasn't fun at all. There were monsters everywhere! They were pretty easy to deal with on a monitor but when they can jump you from behind it becomes a nightmare! If I didn't know Kendo then I'd probably be in big trouble."

Taiga blinked.

"Oh yeah. Do you guys want to learn Kendo? It might be useful if we're stuck here."

"I think we'd be fine!" Shirou hastily spat out with his eyes glazed as if recalling something horrible. Illya could only wonder why. "Besides, Kendo isn't very useful when half of us can't even equip a sword. Illya can, but she's got her axe."

"Which you haven't bothered to tutor me with yet," Illya reminded with a slight glare, but she didn't hold it against him. She'd be a hypocrite if she did, considering she gave him his task in the first place. "Thank you for the offer though, Taiga-san."

"You can drop the honorifics, Illya-chan! It's not like we're in Japan anymore," the former teacher muttered with a hint of sadness.

"True, returning to our old world would probably be out of our current capabilities," the Enchanter added. "There is always a chance that this world has a way so we can't disregard that. I've long since concluded that only something like Magic would help us in that regard."

Illya blinked as a passing suspicion entered her mind. No, it couldn't be.

"Oh right, I didn't introduce you guys yet," Taiga muttered. Her goofy smile returned as she slammed a hand on the poor Lord of the Clock Tower's backside, with an iron gauntlet. "This guy is–"

"I can introduce myself, thank you very much," he said with a wheeze. Taiga probably didn't hold back on that one. "I'm sure you'd just butcher the pronunciation again anyway…" suddenly, his tired gaze sharpened upon looking at the rest of the room. "However, I suppose that you all wouldn't need my introduction. You seem to already know who I am."

Illya's eyes widened. He realized who they were?

"It wasn't hard to notice your subtle gazes, even as this aberrant woman spouted her usual nonsense," he ignored her cry of denial. "Do not worry. I already have an inkling as to who you all are. Tohsaka was an easy guess, considering that there is only one family that holds that name in Fuyuki. Isn't that right? Tohsaka Rin?"

Rin's polite smile became slightly strained at his tone. "Wow, what superb detective skills. I'm impressed."

"Uwah, gross," Taiga, on the other hand, wasn't impressed.

The Enchanter's brow twitched in irritation.

"Please. Any magus with a vested interest in the Holy Grail War would know about your family," he replied as he ignored her. "As well as the Einzbern family, of which your young guild master is no doubt apart of."

Illya's stomach churned. "How did you–?"

"The hair and eyes give it away. All the Homunculi of that family of recluses share the traits. I remember the representative of the Fourth War quite clearly."

 _No! Stop! Don't talk about it here!_

"Lord El-Melloi II? Perhaps we should–" Rin tried to divert the Lord before he did something he would regret.

"Talk about it at a later date? Very well. I suppose we have all the time in the world."

Rin balked for a short second at the interruption, so Illya took the opportunity to cover for her. They needed to make sure that Taiga didn't figure it out! But before she could even get a word out, Lord El-Melloi II did the worst thing.

He turned to Taiga and talked to her instead.

"Woman, why didn't you say that you were acquainted with the Second Owner?" He inquired with a hint of annoyance. "Had I known, I could've spent our trip doing something useful and learn about my future student."

"Future student…?" Taiga muttered.

"What? Did the Tohsaka fail to mention that I offered her a scholarship?" He asked, just a tad bit confused.

"We haven't been in contact for a while!" Rin shouted with surprising composure to gain his attention, to which Illya mentally applauded. "I was busy studying for my finals. I couldn't exactly accept the scholarship until I finish my high school education."

 _Everything is fine_ , Illya thought to herself. All Taiga had to go from were random words with no meaning. Unless someone drew all the dots for her and screamed it into her ear, then all should be fine.

"But… you don't need a high school education for the Clock Tower," he muttered in confusion. "… was there a misunderstanding? A possible translation error in the letter?"

Illya twitched.

 _There sure was a misunderstanding alright! From you!_

"A university in London that doesn't need a high school education?" Taiga muttered with surprise. "Huh, didn't know those existed. Isn't that great, Tohsaka-san?"

"Yes certainly," Rin forced out with relief. Great, they diffused that. All they needed to do now is get the Lord El-Melloi to notice that there was a non-magus in the room!

Seriously, how in the world didn't he notice!? They traveled together for weeks on end!

"Well, not that it's possible now," the Lord continued. "As we are now, in these nigh-indestructible adventurer bodies, we'd receive sealing designations as soon as they even see us. Prana– or rather magic– covers our very forms like skin. By the way, has the respawn mechanic been proven to exist? We've been cut off from civilization so we're a bit clueless if anyone has died yet."

"I hope nobody died," Taiga muttered. "I had a few close calls on the way here."

"That was because you believed we could revive ourselves, even with my warnings, and performed reckless acts of stupidity," the man berated. "What if there have actual adventurers that died? What if you had died on our way here?"

"You don't have to worry about that!" Sakura answered, diffusing the potential argument in front of her before it could whip itself up into a full-fledged storm. They didn't need them to argue again. "A few weeks ago, someone died and came back to life at the Cathedral. So yes, we can revive."

Taiga let out a sigh of relief.

That relief was not shared by the Enchanter.

"… Troublesome. Hiding the mana rolling out of our bodies would've been doable, but add the inability to die into the mix? That's a sealing designation, without question," he groaned. "Even if we tried to explain it to the Vice-Director, she'd still murder us on principle. We resemble Dead Apostles far too closely for her liking."

Taiga's eyes narrowed. "… Murder? Really?"

"She's a feared and respected figure," he provided. "She'd have to be to keep the rest of the magi in line."

 _Shit! She was catching on!_

"L-Lord El-Melloi II, can we please talk about that later!" Rin said in a panic. "Shirou, could you show Fujimura-sensei around? I imagine she hasn't gotten herself familiar with the building yet."

"Y-Yeah, good idea!" He said as he leaped to his feet and grabbed his wayward sister. He was joined by Sakura, who grabbed her other arm. "Come on. We can show you… things!"

"Hey! Wait! My legs are still kinda tired–!"

Her complaints were silenced as soon as they left the room.

The veteran of the Fourth War raised a curious brow. "Was that truly necessary?"

"It is," Illya stated with a sigh of relief. There was only one way that Taiga could hear what was being said in the room, and that was if she knocked. Shirou and Sakura had no doubt dragged her away by now, so she was safe. "Lord El-Melloi. I had heard tales of your achievements but now I can't help but wonder if they were all fabricated."

His eyes narrowed. "Oh? And what prompted this claim, Lady Einzbern?"

His tone came with visceral suspicion, which Illya was thankful for. "The incredibly annoying experience my guild and I had a few seconds ago. How could you let yourself run your mouth whilst we had someone unaware in the room?"

He blinked. "Who?"

"Fujimura Taiga! Your companion! The one who you traveled with for a month!" Illya shouted back. The tenseness of the previous situation already getting to her. Screw decorum. She had nobody to impress here or a reputation to maintain. If he thought lesser of the Einzbern family then Illya didn't care. Bunch of assholes. "Honestly, how could a Lord of the Clock Tower do something so infuriatingly amateur."

His eyes widened in shock. If he had a cigar, it would've fallen out of his mouth.

"You didn't realize, Lord El-Melloi?" Rin prompted. "That certainly does not bode well."

His eyes closed as he rubbed his brow. "Forgive me, that was my mistake. I forgot to mention it."

"As long as you don't do it again, it should be fine," Rin continued with a shake of her head. "Fujimura-sensei might be a little spacey at times, but that doesn't…" she trailed off. A blink followed. "Pardon?"

"I said that I had forgotten to mention it," he sighed. "What a blunder. Traveling with that woman must've clogged my mind. Forgive me, Lady Einzbern and Lady Tohsaka."

Illya frowned.

"Let's not dance around the topic, shall we? What is it you forgot to mention?"

He reopened his eyes.

"Fujimura Taiga already knows about the world of magecraft,"

Illya's eyes widened.

"–and it was I who told her."

* * *

Sakura sighed as they walked the streets of Akihabara.

Taiga had immediately tried to head back to Crescent Moon Burger for a bite, but when they got there it was closed. The stall was still standing but it was closed tightly.

It sounded dangerous to do, especially considering how lawless Akihabara was at the present, but the Crescent Moon guild took it into account already with a few guild members sticking around and tidying up the place around it.

Sakura had no idea how the night-shifts would work, but that wasn't a priority in her mind right now.

Someone interrupted her thoughts by pretending to vomit. A quick glance showed it was Fujimura-sensei. "What do you mean you can't cook!?"

Her eyes opened reluctantly.

"I can't because the world itself seems to prevent me," Shirou stated with disdain. "Trust me, I tried. I tried with a campfire, tried with a grill, and tried with our guild room's mini-kitchen. It always ends up as black paste. I just don't know how to."

Taiga's eyes were wide in despair as she pointed over at the highly guarded food stall. "B-but, they can! They can cook things!"

"And you think they'll tell us?" Sakura muttered with a bit of guilty hesitance. She had tried to accost the staff for answers earlier… along with Shirou. A lapse in judgment, Sakura would believe. Thankfully, Illya had stopped them. "I don't think they will."

Taiga dissipated a gauntlet and rolled up her sleeve. "They will if I force it out of them!"

Shirou was already there behind her, preemptively holding her back as she tried to force herself free. He was reliable like that.

 _Glad to see Fujimura-sensei was still the same as ever._

"Let me go!"

"If you calm down, sure."

"I'm calm!"

Shirou raised a brow.

"… Okay, maybe not," Taiga admitted. "But can you blame me? Weeks and weeks of nothing but berries and tasteless meat, I'd sooner kill than do that again! I want to eat something good damn it!"

They all did, but they'd have to wait until Crescent Moon Burger restocked. Otherwise, they could eat ingredients only. At least those had taste.

"Have some bread," Shirou said as he let her go and fished it out of his inventory. "You can eat it with sliced cheese, but don't shove them together. You don't want black paste in your hands. Take alternating bites. It's simple, but it's worked so far."

That was the only workaround that they could find, as much as it pained Sakura to admit. She even tried helping with the ingredient items in Illya's inventory, but no matter what they tried, it always failed. That black paste would haunt her dreams.

What were they missing!? They knew how to cook. They knew how to treat and prepare ingredients. They even knew countless recipes to use. _What was it!?_

Sakura took a deep breath and calmed down. She shouldn't get worked up, over food of all things, because of a certain… influence. Maybe it was the city's atmosphere? The doom and gloom must've been getting to her.

"I gough it!" Taiga said whilst chewing on her snack, as if she reached some moment of eureka. She swallowed a second later. "We just need that annoying Enchanter over here. He can get them to tell us!"

"And how would that help?" Shirou asked.

"All we need is that guy to pull his magic out and BAM! He'll be spilling his beans out faster than light!" Taiga concluded with gusto. "… or at least, I think it would. I don't know how it works."

"Do Enchanter's have mental skills?" Sakura wondered aloud.

"We'll have to ask them later," Shirou concluded.

" _Konkurazu Adobaiza~_ said he could as a last resort when we escaped the Nine-Tails Dominion," Taiga said. "Seriously, that place was terrible. Guys were attacking other guys. People running around screaming. Guilds locking themselves in their halls. Complete madness I tell you!"

"It certainly sounds terrible…" Sakura muttered.

"It was!" Taiga confirmed. "Glad that I met that annoying Enchanter though. I wouldn't have made the entire journey here without him, and that other kid."

Shirou raised a brow. "Other kid?"

"We traveled with this blond kid. Rambunctious and pretty arrogant when we first met, but I beat it out of him," Taiga answered. "He should be in the city, but he said he wanted to look for a party so we parted ways. Hey, if I see him again, can I invite him to the guild? Would Illya-chan mind?"

"I think she would," Sakura admitted. "She only made the guild so we could have a safe place to sleep. We slept in tents on our first night."

"That was smart for a child her age…" Taiga nodded sagely but perked up as a question ran through her mind. "Wait, I think the Enchanter has another appearance changing potion with him. Do you think Illya-chan would want it?"

"I don't think so," Sakura muttered. Considering Illya specifically made her nineteen-year-old body because she was mentally nineteen years old, Sakura believed that the albino magus wouldn't want it. She certainly seemed to enjoy not being treated as a child anymore. "She seems to enjoy that body."

"You sure?" Taiga asked with worry. "It'd be awkward if someone made a move on her without knowing she was… huh, how old was Illya-chan again?"

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Shirou placated. "Besides, Illya can take care of herself."

If someone wanted to date her then they'd need to impress her, greatly. That much was certain to Sakura… Speaking of Illya, she hoped that their guild master managed to impart the situation to Lord El-Melloi II. She'd hate it if Taiga ever found out about magecraft.

She also knew that, if Taiga learned about the world of Magi, then she wouldn't be able to keep her past a secret from her. Rin and Shirou would try and convince her to tell, just so that they would no longer have secrets.

She loved Fujimura-sensei dearly, but she didn't want to tell her everything.

The guilt that Fujimura-sensei would feel would crush her.

Without a doubt.

"If you say so," Taiga muttered, still a bit unsure at the previous inquiry, but that only showed that she cared. "Oh right! I can't believe I forgot this."

The Samurai flickered her eyes around the rather empty street they were on. Sure, there were a few Landers still around, but since it was nearly evening, a bunch of adventurers would be deciding on a place to sleep. Sakura's guess was proven right when she saw an adventurer sleeping on the side of the road, out like a light.

"Hey! Wake up!"

Sakura blinked as she saw her dear teacher make her way towards the adventurer.

"Fujimura-sensei, what are you–?"

In an instant, the Samurai grabbed the sleeping adventurer's shoulders, shocking him awake, and dragged him up via his underarms onto his feet with apparently zero effort.

"Fuji-nee!?" Shirou panicked.

"Sensei!" Sakura shouted.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing you crazy bit–!"

Taiga growled and squeezed his armpits. The lack of armor there made it quite easy.

"Stop! Stop! Ow– Stop! Stop it!"

"Watch your mouth young man. What do you think you're doing sleeping on the side of the damn road!?"

The adventurer blinked. "Sleeping?"

It was the wrong answer apparently, seeing as the former teacher squeezed down once more, but harder. Even as a string of curses followed, she didn't stop.

"Damn it woman, that hurt!" He cried out. "Where the hell are the guards!?"

"Listen here young man, I'm going to tell you exactly what you're doing wrong," Taiga started. "You're sleeping on the side of the road, hugging a bottle of alcohol like some drunkard. I know for a fact that these things don't taste anything remotely similar to the real thing, so you're faking it."

The player blushed at being caught out. His embarrassment ended when he was shook like a doll.

"Why are you sleeping on the side of the road?"

"I was sleepy?"

"Is that a question or an answer!?"

"I was sleepy! I was sleepy!"

"And why didn't you go to an inn?"

"Uh…" He started strong. "I'm saving money?"

"That's a lie and we both know it."

It was absurdly easy to get money in this world, at least for adventurers. Sakura had a fair amount from their short monster-hunting sessions. She had also earned some gold from her time working at the Eve-Marrow inn, but it paled in comparison to the amount she got on the hunting sessions. Around a hundred gold came from the inn, but a thousand at the very least from monster slaying.

The adventurer's cry of panic, from being shaken again, brought Sakura back to the situation.

"Why aren't you sleeping at an inn!?"

"I was lazy! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

"Get your sorry ass to an inn and sleep in a bed!" Taiga berated. "What would your parents say if they knew you were off on the side of the road like a bum?"

His panicked expression faded. The usual doom and gloom that surrounded adventurers returned. "It's not like I'll ever see them again…"

Taiga twitched.

"… Are you going to give up here?" She asked him, drawing some confusion. "Are you going to sit back and let yourself waste away? Do you hate your parents that much?"

"Huh!?" the adventurer cried out. A vicious and outraged growl escaped his throat. "Hell no! What the hell!?"

"It sure as hell seems like it!" Taiga shouted, shaking him again, but he wasn't crying about it in a goofy manner like before. This time, he gritted his teeth and glared at her. "Your parents didn't raise a bum that'd sleep on the side of the road! You're spitting on them! On the blood, sweat, and tears that they shed when they raised you!"

She let go of him, but he landed fine on his feet after a stumble. "Look at yourself. Would your parents be happy at what they'd see? Are you happy at what you see!?"

At the scolding, the adventurer reluctantly stared down as if he was a student being scolded.

Sakura blinked.

 _A student being scolded? Was Fujimura-sensei…?_

The adventurer flinched at the sight of the bottle in his hands.

Taiga noticed it as her arms sheathed themselves on her hips. "Don't like what you see? Your parents wouldn't either. Do yourself and them a favor and take care of yourself more."

Fujimura-sensei reached out and the adventurer flinched, protectively folding his arms over his armpits. However, his eyes widened at the hand on his helmet-less head.

"Think about what your parents would feel, okay? They wouldn't want to see you like this."

The adventurer fell silent. He huffed in frustration and cast the hand atop of him away. A few heavy footsteps later and the adventurer walked away.

Sakura smiled. She had lived in this town for a month now and recognized that he was going towards an inn. Not the nearest one, seeing as that one would be full by now, but to another inn further away.

The bottle of alcohol lay forgotten by their feet.

"Honestly, has everyone gone crazy in this city?" Taiga muttered to herself. She shook whatever she felt away and turned back to them. "Alright, short sight-seeing time is over! Let's head back to the guild! Chop-chop!"

Her beloved Shirou simply smiled and nodded. "Alright, follow me. You've probably forgotten the way."

"N-No! I didn't…"

"… I meant that as a joke, Fuji-nee."

Sakura trailed along behind them. All the while she snuck glances at the few adventurers who were there to watch. She saw them, with their mouths shut and their jaws tightened, likely thinking to the words Taiga had imparted.

When they walked away with a huff, Sakura smile to herself.

 _Those words affected more than one adventurer…_

The few Landers that watched from afar also walked away. Sakura was glad that none of them seemed to look at Taiga with mild disdain as they had before.

… _And earned the respect of some locals._

"Something interesting, Sakura?" the teacher asked with a slight grin.

The plum-haired Foxtail shook her head. "Nothing at all, Fujimura-sensei."

"If you say so…"

Sakura had nothing to say.

Because what was said was enough.

* * *

"…– and that's what I told her," the Enchanter ended. From the corner of her eye, Illya could see Rin biting her thumbnail in irritation.

"Then why didn't Fujimura-sensei mention it earlier?" the twin-tailed magus questioned hastily. "If she already knew, then why didn't she say anything? She just acted normally."

"'She got used to it' is the simple answer," he replied. "She often tried to understand the ideas and methods behind magecraft, but after a while, she simply didn't care. If I even mention something magus-related, she doesn't pay much attention. It didn't help that our other companion also ignored me and labeled it as mad ramblings…"

Illya politely ignored the fact that the Clock Tower Professor cursed under his breath, mostly because she could relate to the idea of it. Herding her guild was easy because they listened to her, and Illya imagined that someone like Taiga around would probably not. She got shivers just thinking about it.

"It didn't help that we also ignored it. She probably thought that we did as your companion and dismissed it," Rin muttered in frustration. "That's a stretch, isn't it? Even someone like Fujimura-sensei would surely realize? As much as I hate to admit it, we weren't exactly subtle about it."

"You'll have to ask her when she gets back," the elder magus said as his fingers reached for a non-existent cigar. "Frankly, I'm just as astounded as you. I didn't know that woman was this dense."

When she gets back… Illya frowned. It wasn't going to be a pretty affair, at all. With Fujimura in the know, it would be a moot task to hide what they were. Their history as magi might as well be spilled. And speaking of history…

"Does she know about the Holy Grail War?" Illya prompted.

"She knows that the gas leaks eleven years ago were because of the war," the Lord of– _she was just going to call him Waver because it got annoying to treat him with mental reverence._ The guy deserved respect but Illya was starting to run out of descriptions for the guy. Waver replied with a deep-set frown. "However, she doesn't know about the fifth."

"I could tell that from how she didn't immediately scold us," Rin muttered. "This is… a problem. What are the chances that Fujimura-sensei won't go into an emotional roller-coaster when we break the news to her? Wait, I already know the answer. Zero."

She groaned into her palm. "… and Sakura's going to be absolutely _thrilled_. This is going to be a long night."

As much as Illya wanted to put up a strong front, she mirrored the Tohsaka's unease. A lot of secrets, carefully kept and maintained, were being broken out without a second of rest.

"I'm surprised that you even told her," Illya said to the Enchanter. "Fujimura-san does not seem like the most… trustworthy person to keep a secret."

"It was either that or attempt to make it here alone," Waver replied. "That in itself is a monumental task, especially considering I would be without a guide."

"Didn't you have that other companion of yours?" Rin prompted. "I believe you mentioned one."

The man snorted. "That other companion of mine is a child. If I left him alone, he would've done something stupid. He got lost and made his way back enough times that I question his absurd luck. No, as much as I abhor that woman, she was helpful in getting here."

He grimaced. "Though, perhaps I ought to find another city to reside in. This city has problems. Not as many as the Nine-Tails Dominion, but it is noticeable enough."

Illya grimaced in turn. "We're… kinda working on that. Improving the situation in this city is our priority at the moment, but if you want to leave, then I suggest you do it before the end of the month."

"And the reason for that?"

"Something along the lines of a minor civil war, which would most likely result in all the Landers in this city dying a meaningless death," Rin piped up.

"I shouldn't have asked."

Illya shook away the frown on her face and got up from her bed.

"Where are you going?" Rin asked.

"The lady's room."

Rin frowned a bit. "You're going to have to use the communal one. Our personal toilet is out of order."

Illya stopped and blinked. "How?"

"T-That's not important." Rin had the decency to blush and cough in embarrassment. Now Illya was _really_ curious. "More importantly, Lord El-Melloi, what drove you to reveal it? Other than the need for a guide. That doesn't seem like a plausible reason for someone like you."

"Second. I'm Lord El-Melloi, the Second. Don't forget that," The Enchanter sighed deeply. "And for the real reason… I mentioned a sealing designation, correct? Returning to our world would earn it, unless we get the Second Magician himself to grant us his protection."

"Which is a stretch," Rin admitted. She would know, seeing as her family dealt with him in the past. She sighed in equal frustration. "Well, I guess that's fine. None of us want to truly return anyway."

He blinked.

"… I assume the reason behind that is personal?"

"Yes, sir," she replied. "All we need is each other, as our guild name implies."

His eyes narrowed. "The Emiya Family… well, a bold name to be sure."

"You don't like it?" Rin challenged. Feeling as if it was an attempt at slander.

"Considering who I faced in the Fourth War, I feel to be justified in that belief."

Rin nodded somewhat and let it go. After all, most magi would think only of one person with the name of Emiya. All the more reason not to return to their old world.

"Illyasviel, aren't you supposed to be in the lady's room?" Rin said once the silence in the room became slightly awkward.

Illya simply smiled. "Forgive me. The conversation was quite interesting, particularly the topic of a certain Emiya. Perhaps we can continue it at a later date?"

Waver Velvet, the survivor of the Fourth Holy Grail War, simply nodded.

With that settled, Illya opened the door and left–

"–and _that_ is why you need to be careful when we go in! I don't know Illya-chan, but Tohsaka-san is definitely one of those weird magi guys! Just trust me on this, okay? When we go back in, act natural."

Illya blinked once more.

Rin blinked from behind her.

Shirou's mouth gaped in surprise.

Sakura's mouth widened in horror.

Lord El-Melloi II just sighed.

"What? I'm telling the truth! I really don't like that Waver guy, but I do trust him," the woman continued on. "He told me about how these magi guys would eat babies if it'd benefit them. Not even joking! I might not be the brightest, but even I could tell that Tohsaka-san was one. That enchanter only teaches other magic dudes and he offered her a scholarship! That's evidence if I ever saw it."

Well… at least she wasn't as ignorant as Illya thought she was. A quick glance behind the Samurai showed Shirou nervously flickering his gaze from Taiga and to Illya herself.

Sakura, on the other hand, was close to panicking.

"Aw, don't look at me like that! Trust me, Waver's some top dog around them or something, didn't really listen much, but he can definitely protect you guys!" She went on. "And I can do that too! Don't worry, you can rely on me!"

She ended that off by raising her arm in some macho manner. Unfortunately, all that accomplished was landing the fatal blow on what must've been the already worried mental state of the youngest member of their guild. Sakura's eyes rolled back as Shirou caught her before she fell.

"Eh, Sakura!? What's wrong!?"

Illya decided to fake out a cough for her attention. It worked, seeing the former Emiya caretaker turned to face her.

"Uwah!? She's here! Did she hear me? Quickly, run away Shirou! Grab Sakura with you!"

"You imbecile of a woman! If these two wanted to experiment on your little juniors then they would have already done that! Stop embarrassing yourself and get back in here!" Lord El-Melloi II shouted from behind her.

The Fujimura frowned warily and held her arms up in a way that could be perceived as threatening... if it weren't for the fact that her arms mimicked some poses in a martial arts movie. In other words, wild flailing.

"But… Didn't you say that all Magi are sociopaths or something? That they'd torture a puppy for fun?"

"If it'd benefit my magecraft to dissect a puppy, then perhaps," Illya admitted. She wasn't a saint by any measure. "However, before you jump to any conclusions, you should know that the two behind you are also magi, albeit third-rate ones but magi nonetheless."

Shirou didn't flinch at that, having long accepted that fact. He also didn't flinch at the questioning look his former guardian sent him. "Sorry, Fuji-nee. She's telling the truth."

The look of shock and confusion from his caretaker though, that, he flinched from.

"Fujimura-sensei," Rin called from within. "Perhaps if you come in then we can all have the explanations we want. I don't know about you, but I'm certain that my sister needs some rest."

The aforementioned teacher spared but a single glance towards the plum-haired Foxtail and nodded. She turned towards Illya and gave the sternest expression she could muster.

She might act like a goofball all the time, but Illya knew she was a reliable woman, no doubt about it.

"I want that explanation."

"You'll get it, now get inside please."

When they finally did, Illya shut the door with only one thought running throughout her mind.

 _What a day._

And the rest of the night was only going to be longer.

* * *

From atop the moss-covered concrete buildings, overlooking the dead of the night and the city that sat beneath it in peace and tranquility, an Enchanter curiously looked on.

Unlike their old world, this one did not have an active nightlife. When the sun set, shops closed and people retreated into their homes, whereas the endless hustle and bustle of Earth's cities continued without end. The people grew tired and sought rest. There was little purpose to staying awake at this time.

In the dead of night, you could not earn money. The ability to steal from homes was essentially shot down from the fact that rooms could only be entered from the designated entrance. He had tried and nearly invoked the Royal Guards. A novel experience that bequeathed an equally novel piece of information, but he didn't want to attempt it again.

However, the only exception to this world's lack of nightlife was the discordant bunch known as adventurers.

Unlike the Landers, who sought normalcy and stuck to social norms, the despair-riddled adventurers could care less. From the past few weeks alone he could see some players who would sleep on the sidewalk or some alleyway out of sheer laziness. It was honestly an incredibly pathetic thing to see.

Which was why Shiroe was surprisingly pleased to see the streets somewhat barren and empty. There were a few who still slept of course, but they seemed to at least use sleeping bags. Little improvement, but an improvement nonetheless.

What prompted this change though?

This could mean something… or nothing at all. There was little use dwelling on the thoughts, so Shiroe simply shoved the odd occurrence aside. It wasn't relevant to his current plans, but he kept a note on it. Just in case.

Just a little longer…

Shiroe flipped open his inventory and withdrew a piece of parchment.

"News of Crescent Moon Burger should have spread across the entire city by now…" he mused. However, he sighed and put it back in his inventory. "… No, not enough time has passed. Interest is only starting to rise. One more day and then we can get the crafting guilds to listen."

The night wind picked up and died as quick as it came.

"Akatsuki, report."

"Yes, milord. I have managed to obtain all the usernames of the Hamelin members," she declared. "I have not seen any more that aren't on the list."

"Excellent," Shiroe said. "However, there is always a chance that they haven't left their guild room yet. Keep an eye on Crescent Moon Burger. Chances are if you haven't found some yet, then they'll appear there to buy a burger out of curiosity." or hunger, either way.

"This one understands, milord."

Outwardly, Shiroe maintained a calm demeanor. Inside, he was flushing. Was she still treating him as her lord? Maybe his initial peg of her as a role-player wasn't too far off.

"Ah, that's right," the Enchanter suddenly stated as he turned back to face her. "Did you manage to learn anything from our mysterious third party?"

She shook her head and frowned, her hair tussling about as she did so. "I'm afraid not, milord. Today, Hamelin had forgone to meet with the combat guilds so there wasn't a chance to encounter each other."

Shiroe nodded. "That's fine. Just… be careful, Akatsuki."

"Yes, milord!"

Turning away, Shiroe stared back out at the silent city. The sound of rustling wind indicated that Akatsuki had already left.

After having a day to process his thoughts, Shirou reconsidered all the evidence he had on this third party and all parties in general.

Hamelin was a guild who had a monopoly on EXP potions. This meant that they were highly valuable to combat guilds. He didn't question that for a second.

They were making trade deals with the Black Sword Knights, but Shiroe didn't know if they were making transactions with any other guild. If they were, then they'd have to be a combat guild. Production guilds might want to purchase the potions, but Shiroe couldn't see a reason why.

He imagined that someone with an alchemist subclass could, perhaps, reverse engineer those potions, but with how adventurers acted, it was close to impossible. Everyone else still thought of the world as Elder Tale, the game, not as Theldesia, the living and breathing world.

He didn't really know if that was possible, though. He wasn't a chemist, so he'd have no idea where someone would even start. He only had one example to form that hypothesis. The chef subclass and the tasteful dishes that came as a result.

Before, all the chef subclass did was meagerly increase the bonus stats provided by the auto-cooking, and was thus neglected and treated as a role-playing class.

Now, a chef subclass was necessary if one wanted to cook something with actual taste. No matter the sort of dish they tried to make or how easy it would be, it would only result in black paste if they didn't have it.

At times like these, Shiroe praised the Chief.

He didn't doubt that the way to cook food with actual taste would've eventually been found in time, but Shiroe was glad that their resident Were-Cat discovered it first, at least on the Japanese server. With that, he obtained the ability to make the first step. The ability to catch everyone off-guard.

Hmm… perhaps his subclass of Scribe could perform something similar? Something to ponder about, to be sure.

Oh wait, he lost his train of thought. Though he wouldn't say no to a bit of curry…

Shiroe shook his head and recounted the facts again. Where was he? Hamelin and combat guilds, right.

If the combat guilds were all vying for the EXP potions in some leveling race to the level cap, as most combat guilds would do whenever the level cap is raised, then it would be very, very bad. Shiroe knew what would come from it. Just from imagining the power struggle between even the weakest of the combat guilds currently in Akihabara, the result was incredibly horrifying.

If conflict erupted, all possible ideas and efforts for a peaceful Akihabara, a truly safe haven. A place for adventurers and Landers alike. A place for those waiting, trapped with nowhere to go… It would fade like ashes to the wind.

At this rate, Shiroe was considering asking for help. The Crescent Moon Alliance had a high-level Foxtail assassin named Hien, with the rogue subclass. He wasn't as stealthy as Akatsuki but he could help her in identifying them. Rogue's were better at eavesdropping so it was plausible to gleam information once Akatsuki located the summoner from afar.

However, Hien was busy helping out Naotsugu hunt for ingredients. His presence was probably necessary due to the Rogue's penchant to craft traps. Something to consider, perhaps. He might need some pointers though, seeing as eavesdropping on possible members of combat guilds was not an easy or ideal task.

… Wait, what if it was from a different guild? What if the third party was after something else, not the EXP potions? That'd be an odd thought, mostly because Hamelin was a guild with, frankly, not much worth. The only thing of value that the guild had was the EXP potions–

How were the potions being made? They came from lower leveled players.

What if they wanted to save those players? What if this third element sought their salvation? Perhaps they knew one of the players kept captive there? It would make sense if they were searching for them, employing such a rare and unknown summon.

But that was just a guess. Another guess, out of the hundreds and hundreds of guesses he made about them. It was a positive one, sure, but Shiroe was still open to the other possibilities. At least he could confirm it by having Minori talk with her fellow captives. See if any of them had befriended high-level players, particularly summoners or druids.

Their motive, missing. Their methods, mysterious. Staying passive during the duration of their plan, that was Shiroe's best bet. Acting out could prove detrimental. Perhaps they'd take offense and be provoked if he did. Perhaps they'd change their plans and Shiroe would find himself back at square one.

Perhaps, but, maybe, what-if, could they, how, what. There were too many questions. Too many variables.

Shiroe stared into the city once more.

Quiet, peaceful and tranquil. He wanted the city to feel like its night. Where people would argue less out of fear and desperation and cooperate with comfort and fulfillment. A place that he, and many others, could and would call home.

Risks were needed. He had taken one by initiating this frankly absurd plan.

Perhaps it was time to take another.

-0-0-0-

 **A/N: Haha. Late again. It's always this story, isn't it?**

 **I'm sure you'll all notice things and I'll try to prune the questions before they rise up. Yes, Waver told Taiga. But, it came mostly from necessity. He was mysteriously stuck in a world where his usual magecraft knowledge would barely help him. He needed a guide to go somewhere safer. Taiga was that guide. Lord El-Melloi Case Files anime helped a bit with his characterization, but I need to watch more of it. I want to get a good grip on Waver's personality. I probably don't but I hopefully will in time.**

 **He also told her because he had nothing to lose. If they found a way back, he'd get slapped with a sealing designation unless Zelretch stepped in, which is unrealistic because if Waver found a way back, then everyone else would come along with him. That's like, half of Japan's player occupation coming back talking of going into another world. If the Mage's association doesn't notice that at first, they will sooner or later. Then they'll all get K.O.'d by some trigger happy magi.**

 **I could have written something else and just have Magecraft revealed on her in this chapter, but the longer I wrote the less I liked how it turned out. I rewrote it until we got this here. The old one was smothering and got in the way with the tone I wanted for the story. Granted, it ended up becoming somewhat comedic, but I feel it's truer to Taiga's character like this.**

 **Also, you would not BELIEVE how many mistakes I made in this chapter while writing. Unfinished sentences I forgot to get back to. You're and your. Talking about a character as if he's in the area when he's not. "Lazy Tohsaka" instead of "Lady Tohsaka" are but to name a few.**

 **Anyway, I know I missed some mistakes so if you spot them, just go ahead and tell me. I'll try and fix it if I can think of a way to do so. Either through review or PM, I'm not picky. In the meantime, I'll be farming FGO JP, Gundam Gunpla Warfare, and Pokemon Masters. Why am I playing three gacha games and another farm-heavy game called Warframe, you ask? Idk. I felt like it.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Kappa.**

 **A/N 2: First, I wrote Shirou instead of Shiroe. Oops. Second, I didn't Bold the author's note section as usual. Oops x2. Thanks to 'windall' for pointing out the error.**


	14. Chapter 14: One Step Forward

**Chapter 14**

 **Beta: Worldbringer of Joseun**

 **Cover: LousGndiner**

* * *

Last night was a rough one. Honestly, Illya wanted to start the day off by sleeping in, but due to their recent company, that would be unwise.

With Lord El-Melloi II and Taiga around, they had to move around to make room for them. The Clock Tower Lord had offered to sleep on their chair, the wooden one that came with the room, which Illya would have allowed if it weren't for Shirou and Sakura's welcoming nature to offer their own respective beds instead.

That lead to Shirou and Sakura opting to share a bed, giving Taiga Sakura's bed. Rin decided to give up her bed, because she didn't want to see her prospective professor sleep uncomfortably on a chair, and snuck herself onto Shirou's bed too.

Given that there were only four beds, with six people to share, it was a tight fit for the three of them. Illya shoved her bed beside them to give them more space, and slept with them. She was their guildmaster, she could do what she wanted. Although, Illya vaguely remembered that Taiga said something about Shirou becoming a playboy.

Overall, last night ended with two beds shoved together. Rin, Sakura, Shirou, and Illya slept in the makeshift double bed while Taiga and Waver had their own beds.

"Illya, I can't have you being distracted!" Rin echoed out. Illya noted the lack of 'Midget' nickname. "You're the alchemist, right? Tell me if I'm reaching the right consistency with this."

Illya sighed and rolled her shoulders. She was having some back pain recently but couldn't put a finger on why. Whenever she asked Rin, the twin-tailed magus would just give her the stink-eye.

She eyed the workplace. It was nothing compared to the sophistry of the Einzbern estate – or at least what little she remembered while she was on their cutting board – but it was enough. A few breakers with test liquids, most likely formed from items that were squeezed like grapes, and several containers with a variety of colored dust in them.

"Looks a little watery, at least compared to the EXP potion we're going for," Illya mentioned. "What materials have you tried?"

"A bit of every elemental stone and every item I could identify from the EXP potion samples we have," Rin replied as she swirled a vial. She frowned once she saw the color shift a bit from blue to green. "Damn it… I thought that'd do it."

She put down the failed potion and Illya idly checked it with the menu.

 _Weak Potion of Elemental Resistance. It granted a twenty percent reduction from all elemental damage. How in the–_ Illya hummed in realization.

"The elemental stones must've done this," Illya muttered. "What gave you the idea to use those?"

"When I diluted the EXP Potion and isolated the ingredients," Rin began. "I found most of them, like phoenix extract and dragon blood, but I still couldn't identify a few other parts."

Rin turned to the side and shouted out a door. "Ferlna, can you hand over the ingredient list?"

The Lander appeared and did so without a fuss. Although, she had to flip through several other similar papers. "I take it that this attempt was not successful?"

"Nope. The elemental stones together were similar to the missing ingredients… but not similar enough," Rin finalized. She held up a quill and scratched it off the parchment list. "We'll have to try other combinations. This will take ages."

Illya agreed with the sentiment.

Ever since they had awoken in the morning, Rin had badgered her to come into the back room of the Arcadia to help out. Illya finally agreed because Hamelin wouldn't be out and about today. She saw most of their members – members she'd already seen before so she couldn't update her hit list – basically camping out in front of Crescent Moon.

She did feel bad though. Krentelfal got bored quickly, so he elected to wait in the Arcadia proper, to read a few books he said. Hopefully, a joke book, if they even made those. She hadn't heard him crack one lately… or at all. Weird.

At the sound of slow tapping feet, Illya turned and merely raised a brow at their tag-along. "Lord El-Melloi II? Might I ask what you're doing?"

The Lord of the Clock Tower sent a glance their way before returning to the list he held in his hand and a vial in the other. Was he just playing around with the ingredients? It certainly seemed that way.

He had been wandering the room and picking up every item he could get his hands on. Root forbid him being one of those ultra looter-type players, who always grabbed whatever they could to sell or use later… if that 'later' ever came.

"You can just call me Waver, you know?" He replied, putting down the vial but still reading the list. "We aren't anywhere near the Clock Tower anymore so formality has lost its meaning. I was only formal earlier as a form of greeting. I'd imagine that we are well past that stage now."

Illya twitched. "Alright, Waver, still wondering what you're doing."

"Simple. Looking over the list."

"And, pray tell, why?" Rin asked as she wrote something on her parchment. Likely a list of new ingredients to send Krentelfal off to find.

"When you told me of your plan to recreate the EXP Potion, it honestly baffled me," He said. "However, I cannot help but think that you're going about this the wrong way."

If Rin was any regular Magus, then Illya would have expected her to pull out an irritated frown, but to her credit, Rin barely managed to keep that from happening and simply twitched her brow.

She wasn't a regular magus, but she was still a magus. She got irritated too.

"You see, why test for ingredients when you have the best sample to test available?" He put forth the question. "You have already isolated more than ninety percent of the potion, but are still unable to replicate the EXP boosting effect. A piece of the puzzle is missing."

"Yeah, that's right…" Rin muttered.

"That process will take too long, likely a year before you even make any head-way," came Waver's honest assessment. "There might be a simpler alternative."

 _There was?_

"By all means, go ahead and tell us," Rin said with a wave of her hand.

Lord El-Melloi II merely walked over to a separate table. "This is where you keep the EXP Potions, correct?" After receiving a nod in reply, he picked up an EXP Potion and poured it into a cauldron. Luckily, they still had a few spares.

"Alchemy in this world is, in the most basic sense, mixing and mashing together ingredients to create something new," he said as he took the other ingredients, the ones they confirmed to be in the potion.

Illya blinked and narrowed her eyes.

 _Is he…?_

"However, the process as we know it in our reality is much more complicated. It acts on chemical reactions. Creating gold is but one achievement we can perform through alchemy. In other words, a highly scientific process." he explained as he laid them all out before him in a neat line. Following that, he poured the EXP potion into a small cauldron.

… _Yep, he's actually giving a lecture._

"I assume that you are all aware of the Law of Irreversibility?" He prompted, to which Illya and Rin nodded. However, Ferlna shook her head. Seeing this, Lord El-Melloi II explained. "In the simplest sense, what is made cannot be returned to its base form. Glass is made by super-heating special sand known as Silica Sand, but it cannot be reverted. The same with gold and lead. If we made gold, returning it to lead would prove to be impossible. These are but two examples."

He swirled the potion-filled cauldron for but a moment. It was small enough for him to do so without issue, like a bowl of flour. "I imagine that, through this law, none of you tried to do reverse or split it apart for it would be a fruitless endeavor, am I correct?"

Illya nodded, mildly curious to see the Lander write down that information in a flimsy parchment notebook. "It is as you say, but I presume there is some other point to this lecture?"

"Yes, there is. Tell me, why would alchemy be considered a brand of magecraft when magecraft is rarely used in the process?"

Where on earth was he going with this? Illya grumbled inwardly. It's magecraft because they use magecraft on the materials and reform it, much like how modern society – as she had come to learn from television programs and games – although in a much more precise and efficient manner.

The Einzbern family was one comprised of alchemists, with the unparalleled ability to create Homunculi with relatively mundane materials, a replica of humanity mimicking how people created souls through childbirth. The only reason it was called magecraft was because they succeeded through manipulation of mysteries where modern man failed without it.

Humanity's belief was power. It was what empowered Servants with Noble Phantasms, shaped through myth and belief. If people had believed that the creation of a Homunculus was possible through alchemy, then they focused on that possibility and made it into reality. That was why alchemy was considered magecraft in the moonlit world.

"It's because alchemy uses magecraft to achieve its mysteries, correct?" Rin confirmed, which Illya accepted as a horridly simple abbreviated explanation but she didn't want to hold up whatever the Lord of the Clock Tower was trying to achieve with pointless semantics.

"Correct. Alchemy performed with magecraft is magecraft," Waver pushed up his glasses. "However, what can we call alchemy performed without magecraft?"

"That's just chemistry, right?" Illya replied. Of course, she'd know that. Alchemy faded from modern society once people started using it more, which ended up turning it into chemistry, a science one would learn in any modern school.

"Yes, correct again. With this basic understanding, think of this. Alchemy with magecraft achieves the 'conceived to be impossible'. Alchemy alone achieves 'mundane wonders'," Waver said. "Now, those were both with regular ingredients. Tell me," he says as he gestures to the laid out ingredients. "-are these regular ingredients?"

Illya widened her eyes.

"No, they are not," he cut off once he saw her reaction. "These are ingredients that are made through magic, they do not follow the common norms we associate with our mundane alchemy. Similarly, they do not follow the same rules our magecraft-influenced alchemy follows."

He picked up a feather, a raven's feather if Illya recalled. "Our magecraft-alchemy would normally imbue these materials with mana so that they follow our conceived notions. In the case of this raven feather, what will be brewed will follow whatever a raven symbolizes, such as death from the goddess of death, Morrigan, if we followed Celtic lore, or of ill omen with western medieval conceptions."

He ignored Ferlna's raised brow at the mention of an unknown god, returned the feather to its rightful place and refocused on the cauldron. "However, these are already imbued with magic so they will scarcely accept any mana from us at all, nor will they accept the beliefs we enforce upon them. You used a compound of various elemental stones earlier. I presume you did so because all of them put together could symbolize nature itself to harmonize the player with the outside world. In doing so, you hoped to increase the experience gained through something akin to symbiosis. Am I correct?"

Rin's brow rose, which was subsequently followed with Illya's own. "That's… I'm surprised you figured that out."

"However, that failed," he continued as he picked a few elemental stones from a nearby shelf. "You could not enforce the concept of nature or symbiosis because there is already mana within the stones, even when reduced into powder. A flame stone will represent flame and a lightning stone will represent lightning."

Rin sighed. "… so we can narrow down the ingredients by discovering which items preconceived representation fits the bill."

Illya sighed in tandem. Just when she was excited too. "Impossible. To my knowledge, there are no items like that."

"True," Waver said. "No raw ingredient item, at least easily accessible ones in Akihabara, exist to use. While that brings us back to square one, it does not detract from our progress."

Ferlna fixed her glasses, already a few pages into her notebook. Admittedly, she looked a little lost. The differences between magic systems probably befuddled her. "Is that so? In what way?"

"Simple. If we have to add belief behind items to use them in magecraft-influenced alchemy, then what happens when you remove the belief from the finished product?"

"… the product is rendered null," Illya muttered. "It cannot be used. It just becomes an amalgamation of ingredients without purpose. At least until they can be repurposed."

Illya remembered when they would tear out her innards, weak and faulty, only to replace them with better ones lined with magical circuits. They would even remove them when they found better alternatives instead of just waiting until they have all the best parts. It built tolerance, Old Man Acht would say.

She never argued back then.

She didn't want to be one of the many bodies under the castle. The only thing good that came out of that were her maids Sella and Leysritt.

It pained to remember them.

"For magecraft, like alchemy, to be understood, it needs to be broken down."

Illya felt it, mana escaping Waver's adventurer body yet concentrated in his palm. He held it over the EXP potion and, with a flick of his fingers, watched as the EXP potion glowed in all of its splendor.

He lifted his finger and the glow dimmed– or rather completely faded as the mana in the potion surged towards Waver's fingertips. Once that finished, he grabbed the pot.

"Take away the mana…"

He held it towards them…

"And like you said, we've rendered the product null."

It was liquid. Black tar-like liquid.

Rin inspected the tar the EXP potion left behind. "Ah, I understand now. We can break this down and get the raw materials from it."

Without wasting a second, Rin grabbed the pot with little resistance from the Lord of the Clock Tower and poured it over a cloth-covered table. Rin flicked her wrist and used her magecraft. A simple separation spell used to teach young alchemists the difference between similar components.

With it, the tar separated. It moved like slime before settling into six distinct vials.

"Six ingredients!?" Rin shouted in surprise. "But… we've been using close to twenty! How could just six make an EXP potion?"

"It is likely not just six," Waver explained. "However, when the EXP Potion was made, it was likely through six components. Do not get ingredients and components mixed up. Components can be made with several ingredients."

He held his hand out once more on the first black vial. Mana escaped him and entered it.

In Illya's own words. The null product cannot be used. It just becomes an amalgamation of ingredients without purpose…

… _At least until they can be repurposed._

Illya widened her eyes when it became red and watery. A quick inspection through her inventory later showed what it was. "Dragon blood extract. Not complete dragon blood, but diluted with water."

Rin followed suit on another vial, watching as it became yellow and extremely consistent. "Phoenix egg yolk? They laid eggs?"

"This is like a mystery box, isn't it?" Illya muttered as she turned another vial into what it truly was. "Faerie dust?"

"That's already three ingredients we've never even used," Rin complained. She grabbed her list, scratching several out and writing a few new in. "Dragon blood extract should be easy to acquire. Adventurers were selling it for dirt cheap in the market. Phoenix eggs and Faerie dust will be an issue."

"They sell Phoenix eggs in the Summoner Bestiary," Ferlna called from behind, still looking a bit lost, but noting down everything that was happening. At least they'd have a nice log of events later. "If you would like, I can go and purchase a few."

"No need," Illya dismissed. "We can send Krentelfal off to purchase them later, once we identify the remaining components."

"Interesting…" Waver muttered. Illya turned to look at the latest vial of sludge he injected with mana. "A damage boost potion."

Rin raised a brow. "What's that?"

"Exactly what it means. It increases both physical and magical attack of a player… to the exact percentage that a regular EXP potion does. Odd," he muttered. "Then, the next vial would be…"

Illya had already injected mana into it. "Heal Boost, just like the EXP potion increasing recovery effects. Is this thing just a mix of potions?"

If it was, then that was lazy. Come on, world. If you were going to bring the game into real-life then be less lazy about it.

Waver suddenly spoke. "Dragon's blood belongs to one of the strongest phantasmal creatures to ever walk our earth. Even in Theldesia, they are creatures of renown, with some of them predating the formation of countries."

"Wouldn't something like that just imbue draconic properties instead?" Rin asked.

"Likely why it's diluted, where only traces of dragon remain." Illya followed. "Faerie dust is likely the dust component. No potion item can be made without some form of dust."

At least, in the game's alchemy menu. You needed dust, liquid, and at least a third ingredient of your choice to create anything – you could go wild with the number of ingredients, but the chance of failure and wasting the items grew substantially higher too. Faerie dust was a popular choice due to it being able to give most potions a longer effect and increasing the success rate to create such potions.

"Speculation, but we could try it out later," Rin added, a hint of a smirk on her face. "Turning into a dragon could be interesting."

"And it would make you stand-out," Illya reprimanded. "Transformation items exist in-game, but they're either cash items or drops from bosses."

"Even better!" Rin's small smirk grew. "Stand out? Midget, we can take over the entire market with this!"

"This doesn't make sense…" Ferlna suddenly muttered from her notes. "Dragon blood has never interacted with faerie dust before, let alone phoenix eggs. Each of them alone can create wonders, but they always interfere when used together in any ratio."

Illya blinked. "They do?"

Then again, she never really studied potion recipes. She only kept her mind on map rotations and locations to farm gold and experience solo.

"Perhaps the answer lies within our last vial," Waver prompted. "If the prior ingredients could not bind together, then the last component should be the binder for them all."

Rin held the damage and heal boost potions. "Something that could also bind two completely finished products? Must be some kind of miracle-material."

Illya nodded. It would be like fusing two compounds and expecting the final result to have properties of both, instead of completely new ones.

"The final piece of the puzzle. It likely holds the reason for the EXP boosting properties, if prior ingredients are anything to go by," Waver concluded. None of the prior components had anything to do with experience boosting. "If this component is a miracle component of some kind, then we'll be finding out."

They all waited with bated breath as he injected mana… injected mana… still injecting…

"Something's wrong," Rin stated. "Why isn't it reforming?"

Lord El-Melloi II furrowed his brow and forced more mana out, to the point that his mana bar actually started to _visibly_ decrease.

He's a level 90 Enchanter, and those of the class had a supremely high mana pool. He should have at least twelve thousand mana, disregarding any possible boosts that his equipment gave.

He was burning such an enormous amount of mana, _rapidly_.

"It feels like a wall," he explained. "Removing the mana proved to be easy, but injecting it seems to cause a rejecting reaction. I cannot put any mana into it because I lack enough of it."

"Even when we're so close… there are still problems," Rin muttered. "What if all of us poured mana into it?"

"Even then, not enough," Waver said. "It felt like breaching a steel wall with a toothpick. Even if we combined all the mana of all players in Akihabara we would barely start a reaction. Recreating the EXP potion was likely made to be impossible. Whatever this ingredient is, it is certainly unique."

 _Not enough… mana?_

Krentelfal hovered into the room. "Are you all well? I was reading a wonderful retelling of my legend but the surge of mana caught my attention."

 _Mana…_

"Krentelfal, are you still draining mana from me?" Illya asked.

"No, not really. I've taken more than enough to sustain myself for a millennium."

 _There's the answer._

"Krentelfal, can you pour mana into this vial?" Illya asked as she held up the bottle. "Don't be afraid to use all that mana in one go. I can always give you more."

Waver blinked. "Always give more– you speak as if you have an unlimited source…"

"Well then, with pleasure, Lady Illyasviel!" Krentelfal exclaimed.

He took the bottle in his hands and held his breath.

"This is–!?" Ferlna shouted in surprise.

In one short second, Illya saw his body pale. His armor becoming rapidly translucent and his fleshy form becoming far more skeletal. Hair fell as his head rapidly bald into a skull… all the while, the vial glowed like a newborn star.

"I said _'Don't be afraid to drain my mana'_ , Krentelfal!" Illya shouted at the idiot! She ignored the fact that this wasn't her exact wording, but seriously, was he trying to off himself!?

His form bettered, but he was toeing the line between death and oblivion. Not life and death, because he was already dead.

"How much mana is he using!?" Lord El-Melloi II finally exclaimed as he covered his eyes with his arm. "It's as if… as if he has an unlimited source of–"

His eyes widened behind the safety of his elbow.

Having no doubts that Waver deduced where all the mana came from, Illya simply focused on her pseudo-familiar. In one second, the vial became a newborn star. Ten seconds later, it faded. Krentelfal returned to as pristine as he originally was, albeit a few ghostly sweat drops dripped down his brow.

"That was… quite a harrowing experience." The old ghost muttered. "I feel old, quite a bit older than I actually am. Isn't that a harrowing notion?"

"Sorry for that, Krentelfal," Illya apologized. "But your effort paid off. The vial changed back."

"Splendid," the knight celebrated. "However, I hope that I will never have to do that, ever again."

With a swish of his fingers, Krentelfal held up the newly changed vial. The vial that had lit up the whole workshop. It was lucky that there were no windows. Otherwise, the entirety of Akihabara would've noticed them.

"It is…" Ferlna muttered. "Red. I expected something blue."

"The vial is blue, but the contents are closer to wispy pink," Illya corrected.

"Well, what is it?" Rin asked, coming out from under the table. It was like she expected it to explode or something… but with the amount of mana poured into the damn thing, that was a safe assumption.

What in the world even took that amount of mana? That was enough power to wipe a continent off the face of the earth! Not even a continent from the Half-Gaia project of Elder Tale, but something like Asia in their homeworld.

Without wasting time, Illya opened up the menu and inspected it.

"… Looks like Krentelfal won't be needing to do that again," Illya muttered.

Rin blinked. "Well? What is it?"

"Blood."

"Blood? Like Dragon's blood?" Rin muttered. "No, even that took less mana. What would require that much mana? It's not regular old blood, is it?"

"It might as well be regular old blood," Illya continued as she held up the vial and simply stared at it. "After all, it's running through each and every adventurer in Theldesia."

She held a vial of blood.

 _Adventurer's Blood._

The blood of adventurers was used to make experience potions.

It… it made sense. No other creature on Theldesia could live forever. Lore on adventurers stated that they never died, so they could theoretically hold infinite experience. If their blood held a bit of their 'experience', then that could mean ingesting adventurer blood provides more? No wait, that doesn't make sense.

Blood types had to match, otherwise, there would be rejection… which could explain the two-hour time limit the potion had. Or maybe all the other ingredients could have influenced it somehow, make the body reject it less.

Wait, if potions could be made from any ingredient, then maybe the adventurer body was just incredibly tolerant of everything?

Illya didn't know. She didn't like that.

"This… changes things," Illya muttered. "This changes a lot of things. Rin, you mentioned that our Lander friend here wants to conduct a few experiments on our physiology?"

They needed to know more.

Rin nodded. "Ferlna, we're speeding up. Do you have injections or anything in here?"

While Rin walked away with Ferlna in tow, Illya turned to the Clock Tower Magus. "I suppose thanks are in order, Lord El-Melloi II. We wouldn't have found out what the missing ingredient was without your input."

"Thanks aren't needed. You were just as necessary as I was," he concluded. He took out a cosmetic smoking pipe. Why those existed in Elder Tale at all boggled her mind. Maybe it was something exclusive to the English servers. "… More importantly, the infinite mana you seemingly had access to. I have a hypothesis that I merely need your confirmation of."

No use hiding it. Not like Illya planned to hide it from the Clock Tower magus in the first place. "If your guess was Heaven's Feel, the Third True Magic, then you'd be right."

He inhaled his pipe and, after a few moments of silence, exhaled accordingly. "I suppose you cannot access it by yourself, seeing as you had a surrogate use it in your place." Another nod and Waver Velvet sighed. "I'm certain that I do not need to explain to you how valuable of a piece you are, especially in regards to the rest of the adventurers… and to the magi in our world."

At Illya's second nod he turned and walked away.

"… I'm going out for a bit of fresh air. I'm certain that the both of you are talented enough to extract adventurer blood without triggering the royal guard system."

"We'll need to extract it from ourselves," Illya said. "The royal guard system is linear, it doesn't account for self-harm." After all, suicide was still possible, even if you reform back at the Cathedral, not that Illya was willing to try.

With a nod, the only male magus left the room.

"Krentelfal, are you still ready to go?"

"Well, I'm not feeling as dead as before, so it would appear so," he answered. He paused and chuckled. "Oh wait, I am dead!"

 _Snicker._

"We have to gather a stable supply of Dragon's blood, Faerie dust, and Phoenix eggs," Illya explained, as stoic as she possibly could, before she opened her inventory. "Take this bag and go buy them from the market."

Krentelfal nodded and made to leave.

"I'm… not bothering you with these orders, right?" Illya asked suddenly.

The ghost paused only to chuckle. "Not even a bit, Illya."

When he disappeared, Illya sighed.

They were close to their goal. The Lander's anger against adventurers was admittedly decreasing, at least to her knowledge. Sakura managed to leave a good enough impression on them, and Shirou was also doing well within the craftsman circle. Their contributions may seem minuscule, but without it, other Landers could start some trouble.

Loose reasoning, but Illya liked all her bases covered. It wasn't as if Shirou and Sakura could help them with the potion, or with Illya's own private hit list. Might as well make them do something they like to do.

… Actually, Sakura might enjoy taking care of a few animals. Having a stable source of those would be a great idea. If they wanted to be able to mass-produce the potions, they'd need a stable source for the ingredients.

Or get a few pets to use for materials. There were dragon mounts, faerie companions, and phoenix followers, but they only lasted a few days before they needed to re-summon them. Sure, they sucked and nobody brought them along for raids – developers and their trigger-happy Nerf gun – but they were cool and cute. That was enough for most of the player base.

The other alternative was just hunting. The problem with that idea was the level of these monsters were at least as high as Illya's own. This would mean that, if they wanted to farm these ingredients via monster hunting, then they'd all need to be at Illya's level at the very least to even enter the zones–

Uh, great… another headache.

It was a good thing that they were only minor ones, but she'd rather have shoulder pains over these any day. Maybe she needed to take a day off, all the stress must be getting to her.

At least they should be able to finish within the week if no complications arose.

"Illya! These Landers don't have syringes!" Rin called. "I'm going to cut into my wrist. I don't know if blood will come out because of our physiology but I'm going to try it anyway!"

"It's just one thing after another," Illya noted.

* * *

From within the Eve-Marrow Inn, Taiga chugged a mug of tasteless alcohol. She was an adult and she could do what she wanted!

However, these things tasted like dirt. It was like… dry water, but dry water you can get drunk from. Not the most pleasant of drinks. Hell, she could probably make something with a bit more taste if it weren't for the small ' _can't cook without making black paste_ ' issue. Wait, was dry water even a thing?

"Sakura~, when is your shift over?" Taiga asked, bored out of her mind.

"Hmm… my shift ends in an hour," Sakura answered. "Sorry. I promise to make it up to you afterward."

Taiga gave her the stink-eye. "You better… Being a part of a secret society of psychos…"

Her former student wearily laughed to herself as she cleaned a mug. "Psychos… that's one way to put it."

Taiga simply sighed once more and swirled the mug in her grasp.

Magic, or Magecraft as they kept correcting her, existed in their world. Sure, magic was in this fantasy land and even Taiga could use a bit of it thanks to her Samurai class, but not a lot because Samurai's are tank classes. However, magic in their world? In the world that she studied in? Screwed around with her friends in? That ridiculously regular world?

That took a bit to sink in the first time that ass of an Enchanter had told her about it. A whole society, that'd dissect babies if it'd help them out, just the idea of it freaked her out.

Then she learned of Second Owners. Like the name implied, they owned the city they lived in. Waver said that it was technically the leyline or whatever that was, but Taiga didn't really pay attention to that part.

Tohsaka Rin was the Second Owner of Fuyuki. She was a part of those child-murdering monsters… at least until Shirou and Sakura cleared up that misunderstanding.

 _Shirou and Sakura…_

A frown threatened to develop at the thought of her adorable little students. A little brother she had spent the better part of her life growing up with and a little girl she'd happily call sister if given the chance. They were a source of light in the endless monotony of her adult life.

Then she learned they were a part of the psychos.

Tohsaka wasn't one, and Taiga sure as hell knew her precious students weren't psychos either… but they were still in that part of the world.

In their world, Taiga thought she knew darkness. Her grandfather was a part of the local Yakuza, having weeded out every other group far before she was born. She was the young heiress that could do whatever she wanted, which she used to become a teacher.

She had power… but what good would that power bring if she couldn't help the two people closest to her?

Sakura was the blood-sister of Tohsaka, who had been sold to the Matou family. Between the two, grandpa always made sure to tell her about the Matous. Avoid them, he would say. That family is filled with monsters, he said.

Taiga never believed him.

The Wolf Fang Samurai felt her eyes wander towards her student once more… to the student who suffered her entire life while she only thought about her next meal. The student who wore a mask to fool everyone around her.

She should've believed him.

If she could… maybe child protection services could… no, nothing would've helped. If even her family, which she knew to be the number one force in the city, feared what went on in that family mansion, then what could she have done?

 _Nothing._

And that realization alone made her want to cry.

She did, last night. When everyone else was asleep, she had left the room for a midnight stroll, just something to get her mind off of things. She could always reenter after being white-listed by Illya, so there wasn't an issue.

She had walked and walked until she had found the rooftop of the guild building.

The bright and clear moon should've been relaxing to her.

It wasn't. It just broke the wall she had built and sustained throughout that night.

There, she cried. There she screamed out her frustrations and it was there that she cursed the unfairness of the world.

She couldn't show them her outburst. She wouldn't let them see it. She was Fujimura Taiga, the teacher who always smiled. The person who always lightened the mood in the room. The elder sister that they relied on for almost their entire lives…

Except, they never truly relied on her, did they? They probably saw her as someone to protect. Someone to shield away from the ugly horrors of their world.

 _Powerless, again._

Taiga growled subtly and merely downed another mug of tasteless alcohol.

Damn it! At this rate, she was going to drown in her own sorrow!

"Hey, Sakura," Taiga suddenly started. "What's it like, working in a tavern?"

She slowed her mug-cleaning and gave her an odd look. "… Sensei, even if you're bored. I don't think you should try and help out in the tavern."

"Where did you get that idea?" Taiga blurted out. "I'm not that bad! I just wanted to know what you do around here."

Sakura simply smiled in relief. Come on, she wasn't that bad, right!? "Mostly cleaning the mugs, but whenever there's a customer I take their order for mister Ashe to cook." because adventurers seem to only make black paste. "I also clean the tables. If there's nothing to be done, I leave and help with the surrounding shops. It's been a fun few days. Everyone is so nice."

Taiga hummed.

Sakura was doing a lot, it would seem. She knew that both she and Shirou were both supposed to bring up Lander opinions surrounding adventurers, but this was a big city. She must be overworking herself.

"Ever want to take a break?" Taiga prompted.

"No, not really," she honestly answered. "I like to be kept occupied. Keep my hands moving and the like."

A short bark came from beneath the counter.

"Oh?" Sakura muttered as she looked down. "Raijuu, do you want to take a nap?"

At the second bark, Sakura put down her mug and picked up the little pup. It leaped onto her busom and burrowed under her robes. A moment later, it was as if he was never even there.

Taiga blinked.

"Does he always sleep there?" she asked. "Snugly fit underneath your robes?"

"Yes, but it does worry me," Sakura admitted. "He's usually sleepy. I thought he was tired, but he rarely moves around or plays."

"Is he hungry? I get tired whenever I'm hungry, so much so that I don't even do any work," Taiga said without a hint of shame.

Sakura shook her head. "I don't think that's it. I feed him regularly and make sure he eats but… maybe I need a second opinion. Maybe dogs from this world work differently?"

Taiga shrugged. She sure as hell didn't know. She never even had a pet, never saw the appeal. "Isn't there a Bestiary in the city? Maybe you can go and ask them."

"Hmm… I suppose I should," Sakura finally accepted. "Maybe tomorrow? I don't have a shift then, and it's a weekend so there's less to do."

Do Lander's even take weekends off? Taiga wasn't so certain, but nodded anyway.

"Hey, can I get another mug?" A random adventurer called from the other side of the bar.

"Be right with you!" Sakura answered, grabbing a clean mug to hand off.

Hmm, looks like this place was going to be busy soon. The Tiger of Fuyuki liked to drink, but the swill she was drinking didn't even qualify as something to drink. Let alone enough to sate her thirst. Maybe Shirou would be free?

Wait, where even was Shirou? Maybe Sakura would know.

"Hey, Sakura. Do you know where Shirou's working? I'm bored so I want to check up on him," she asked.

Sakura hummed to herself, having returned from a table. "If I remember, it should just be down the road. If you take the first turn down the main road, you'll enter the market. Shirou should be working in Meltraus' shop."

Taiga took out a few coins and paid her tab before leaving. Of course, she bid Sakura her own farewells. She wore a smile and walked jovially out the front door like she always would.

Inside, she wanted to run up to that plum-haired girl and hug the living daylights out of her. But she was working, and Taiga knew better than to interrupt that.

At least when there were no stakes on the job. She'd happily drag them away for a chat any day of the week.

Taiga knew the plan and how high the stakes were, Illya had explained it to them last night along with all the truths and confessions about what they kept hidden from her. On one hand, she was thankful they didn't keep secrets from her anymore. On the other hand, she wanted to scream at them for keeping those secrets until now.

Chances were, those students of hers were never going to tell her about their secret lives until the day she died.

That thought alone scared her more than she thought it would. What if she woke up one day and learned Shirou was dead!? Gone without a single reason as to why!?

All she'd have were empty condolences from some no-name mook from whatever church existed in their city! If that ass of a priest was any example. Seriously, the guy had just given her the creeps whenever he showed up. Not that his replacement was any better. The chick seemed to love church donations a little _too_ much.

She really did wish she had a good night's rest. After staying up crying to the moon in frustration, a little shut-eye should've been good, right? A little breather from her frustrations was fine, right?

Nope! She just had to dream about… about that weasel of a brat, Shinji! Sakura's own brother.

Her students said nothing about him, but Taiga knew he was involved. If Sakura was, then her brother would be too... if he was still around.

She remembered.

That day, when the school sky bled, when she lost all feeling in her body, and when everyone around her fell like a house of cards. She remembered it as if a bad dream.

She recalled her shallow breathing as if she was barely clinging onto her very life.

She remembered footsteps, noticing someone was walking among them.

She noticed them stopping before her, followed by mocking laughter.

Taiga knew who laughed, even as those footsteps faded away into memory.

At first, she believed that it was nothing more than a dream. A horrible thought that she had one random day. Or even a delusion from the supposed gas leak.

 _Gas leak… that was the excuse they always used, wasn't it?_

It never was a dream, was it?

Taiga didn't know what Shinji was doing after that fateful day, but when he never showed up for classes… well, there was only one conclusion. Especially when the Matou manor collapsed on itself.

She should've felt bad, but that lingering nightmare always made her think otherwise.

Taiga took a calming breath. That wasn't good, she needed to be a pillar of happiness for those two to rely on. A bastion for them to take respite. Losing her cool here would do no good.

She shook away the dark thoughts crawling up from beneath and simply looked at the city for what it was worth.

It was honestly kind of weird seeing huge buildings cracked and covered in vines, but compared to the valleys and forests she already trekked through, it proved to be underwhelming.

She made sure to visit the Cathedral when they arrived, just to make sure they wouldn't revive back in the Nine-Tails Dominion. That place was probably already nothing but rubble, with all the infighting that went on there.

Something thudded against her iron boots so she turned down to see an orange, having rolled to hit her.

Then she saw another roll by.

And another.

Taiga blinked and turned her gaze to the source… before swiftly picking up the oranges and made her way to an old lady. "Excuse me, grandma! Let me help out!"

"Oh? What a kind adventurer."

She was spindly and likely barely holding herself up. She held a cane to keep her balance and a basket in the other, which was where the oranges had likely fallen.

"Let me carry your bag for you!" Taiga exclaimed. "Don't worry, you can rely on me!"

What kind of upstanding teacher would she be if she didn't set herself as an example? Even when the old lady refused, Taiga pushed for it. She was likely to drop even more if Taiga didn't help out.

 _It was a nice distraction._

Eventually, the old lady relented and Taiga carried her bags for a while. They ended up in the market place, where Taiga was originally heading. Convenient!

Once the old lady was comfortably sat at a stall, where her daughter was apparently selling other fruits and vegetables, Taiga left to continue her journey. Ignoring the short detour, the Tiger of Fuyuki found herself in front of a beginner level armor shop.

"Excuse me!" Taiga called out. "Is Shirou in here?"

The attendant jumped in surprise. "W-What's your business with him?"

 _Suspicious…_ Taiga narrowed her eyes. Was he being a playboy again!?

"Do I need a reason to visit family?" She added, to which the attendant relaxed briefly before heading inside. Taiga heard her call her little brother's name and excitedly smiled once she heard his voice call back. "Shirou! I'm bored! Let me see what you're doing!"

Only waiting a second before the attendant girl let her in, Taiga streamed straight into the workplace.

"Wow, it's hot in here!" She whined.

Heat instantly assailed her. She could already feel herself sweating a tad bit.

"It's a forge, Fuji-nee. Of course, it'd be hot," her brother-in-all-but-name answered. "Speaking of which, I'm not so sure you can be here?"

She just shrugged. "I could go everywhere in-game before. Why not now?" She even made it to the guildhall roof last night.

"Because that'd be breaking and entering," a burly voice answered to her side. A quick glance to it showed a wall of muscle. She turned her head up, only to meet a pair of eyes staring down at her. "What're you doing here?"

"Ah, Meltraus-san," Shirou called. "This is my elder sister, Fujimura Taiga. She arrived in town yesterday."

"So I see," he rumbled.

Taiga hummed to herself. This guy was Shirou's boss?

She heard of how Shirou somehow landed an apprenticeship under a local blacksmith, which actually surprised her, but this guy… yup. He fit every stereotype of a hard-working old master. It was surreal. Not as surreal as giant bats chasing after her, but surreal nonetheless.

She stuck her hand out. "Hello there! I'm Shirou's legal guardian, at least until he turns twenty. Nice to meet you!"

The Lander stared for a bit before he held out his own hand, to which she shook vigorously. Got to be nice to the guy who took care of her little brother for a month, right?

She stopped once she felt the guy loosen his grip and faced Shirou once more. "So, what were you doing?"

Shirou smiled. "Just making several swords. Meltraus finally decided to level me up from daggers. I'm having an easier time, surprisingly."

Taiga heard the old master grumble under his breath, but not the exact words. Something about prodigies. Swords though… hearing about how her little brother could make swords, not like how he was smithing from metal but out of magic, even back in their own reality, was weird.

Learning of the death battle happening right under her nose? Less weird and scarier. Learning that it happened periodically every century, and only recently happened twice in a decade, was less scary and more horrifying.

Learning her students were a part of it? She nearly broke down right when she heard of it, especially from their own mouths.

"Swords… eh?" She muttered with a hint of melancholy. Hopefully, Shirou didn't pick up on that. She came here to try and take her mind off depressing thoughts but it looks like it didn't work.

She watched as Meltraus left to grab a cooled blade, adding a hilt on and using some kind of resin, probably, to stick it on. The sword looked cool though, it reminded her of her own blade. Taiga was level 80, a testament to how long she spent shirking off her teaching duties, but her Katana was only level 78. A meager two-level difference to her own, but she kind of needed more optimal gear.

Especially if this plan of theirs failed. Not that she wanted it to fail! It's just that, it could fail. She just wanted to be as prepared as she could be, you know?

A new idea popped into her as a Cheshire grin formed. "Hey, Shirou. You busy?"

Her former student looked to Meltraus, who shrugged and continued his work. "I guess I'm free at the moment, so not really. Why?"

"Make me a sword!"

He blinked.

"Sure."

"I'm glad you're a smart kid, Shirou," Taiga replied. What wasn't said, was that Shirou was just so used to her random requests that he answered without hesitation, even as both Meltraus and Melhia gave him an odd look.

"If you use materials from the shop, she'll have to pay for them," Meltraus added before he screwed the pommel onto a now-finished iron sword.

Taiga just waved it off. "It's fine, I have gold to spare."

A lot. You didn't reach level eighty without having a lot. She had enough to buy the best armor in the city! Sure, she'd be dead broke after that, but it was enough! That's what mattered.

"I've been your practice dummy longer than anyone else, or at least enough to get a grip on what kind of blade would be best," Shirou added. Grabbing a tong and a few ingots. Oh, they'd make a low-level sword, but if she spoke up now it'd be awkward… wait.

"Shirou," Taiga asked. "I forgot to ask, but what level is your blacksmith subclass?"

He turned to her before even heating the ingot. "Forty, why?"

Eh? He was nearly halfway done with the subclass? In this amount of time? Sure, power-leveling a class could be done, she did it with her own production class before she switched to Duelist a week before they arrived in this world, but isn't that too fast?

"You've been making iron daggers this whole time?" Taiga added, knowing that iron daggers gave the least amount of experience for leveling the subclass. There were a few of her grandpa's employees that played the game just to try and give her free stuff, which she usually declined. Usually. The five-percent mount movement speed item was too good to pass up. "How did you reach level forty with just those?"

Shirou just shrugged and heated the ingot. "I don't know. It just became this high. Maybe it's my affinity for swords."

Affinity… yeah, when Taiga got the quick explanation about origins and what Shirou's was, she didn't realize it'd have this much of an effect.

Her little brother saw himself as a sword, or something close to it. She really didn't know what to think about that. Oh yeah, he was broken too at least according to Tohsaka, which was something.

He had two different ingots on top of each other, super-heated by the forge. He hammered it until they were as flat as a regular ingot but nearly twice as wide. He nearly cut it in half, but that was just to help fold the thing outward. He threw dust in between before he held it back in the forge to reheat.

Or at least, that's what it looked like. Taiga had zero ideas about what was going on, but he was doing, whatever it was he did, several times in a loop. Folding it in with itself and throwing some weird dust or powder in between the cracks.

Taiga just blinked.

At least this was a nice distraction to her previous thoughts.

Shirou paused for a bit and focused on the ingot. He nodded to himself before he hammered it again, but much harder. He was stretching the blade out, by the looks of it. Soon enough, it looked as long as her own Katana… hang on.

That wasn't as long as her Katana, her's was shorter. So why was he…?

"… Torashinai was about this long?" he muttered to himself. "The weight will be off if I don't shave it off later. Where's the oil treatment box?"

As Shirou left the blade, keeping it at an angle so it doesn't droop while it cooled down, to reach for a box on the shelf. Meltraus looked over and subsequently widened his eyes. "Boy! Back away!"

"Huh?" Taiga could only let out.

It happened quickly.

Meltraus stepped in and tossed her incomplete blade back, watching as the metal warped and bent. She was about to shout about how it was ruined but noticed how the blade kept glowing.

Until suddenly, it burst.

Shards flew everywhere. Taiga saw them and moved to try to shield herself with her gauntlets.

A shield suddenly appeared, the attendant from earlier having grabbed one large enough to block them all from harm. The shards impacted it tumbled to the dirt, losing the heat stored within and becoming brittle pieces of black iron.

Once the excitement died down, Taiga let out an audible gulp.

"What," Taiga muttered. "I… are swords supposed to explode like that?"

"When a blacksmith's level isn't high enough, the resulting blade breaks," Meltraus sternly berated. "The higher the level of blade attempted, the more volatile the resulting break will be."

"Eh, really? That's how it works!?" Taiga blurted out. "That's normal!?"

"Boy, what did you even try and make?" He continued without paying heed to her. "Most failures end up falling to pieces. Just falling. This exploded into pieces."

"Level?" Shirou muttered once Melhia put away the shield. "Ah, right. Most of the daggers and swords we made were always level ten or lower."

 _What did Shirou even try and make?_

"I… think it was higher than my own level," Shirou admitted. "But I don't know how high it was. I was just trying to make Torashinai, but as a Katana."

Taiga felt pride swell up from within her, but bottled it for now. This wasn't the time and place for that. She eyed Meltraus walking over to the remaining pieces, picking up the largest one that still looked like a blade. It looked more like a malformed Tanto now, or a mini-Katana.

"This…" the old grandmaster muttered as his brow furrowed. "Boy, clean up this mess."

Unable to argue, Shirou went to do just that. "I'll help out," Taiga added. She felt bad. All this happened from her request, even if she had no idea why.

She looked at another broken shard before throwing it into an ingot mold, which Shirou used as a makeshift basket. He was probably going to reform it into an ingot later too.

"Was this really because my level wasn't high enough…?" Shirou muttered.

"D-Don't worry about it, Shirou!" Taiga said with a smile. "This was just a minor setback. When you get a higher level, we can just try again!"

She put up a strong front for him. A smile so that he wouldn't worry and simply relax to enjoy the moment, just like she had always done.

… These days, that was all she could seem to do, it would seem.

* * *

The tavern was loud with cheer.

Even though night had fallen, the Landers decided now was the time to party. It was the end of a week, the end of many harvests, and a day for them all to rest.

Well, some would rest. The ones who had jobs to oversee the city walls would continue off into the night. Shame, Halfas thought. They could've been merry with the rest of them.

Deep within the heart of the Lander district, many fellow people of the land gathered to make merry, in a place where adventurers dare not enter.

As divisive as the thought was, even if Halfas liked Adventurers, they weren't the shining examples of heroism that he once thought of them as. Even when they were nothing but emotionless puppets working to please them, Halfas truly believed that they were here to protect them.

And then, the May incident happened.

Last month, adventurers spontaneously developed personalities and spoke with fluency previously thought impossible.

Halfas saw it as something to be rejoicing over! Finally, they'd be able to talk with their protectors and learn about them!

However, their protectors drowned in despair. Until recently, Halfas didn't know why. The Arcadia girl from the capital, Ferlna if he remembered correctly, was there to explain what she had learned, what she knew, and what she wanted them all to achieve.

It was an experience Halfas would not forget anytime soon, perhaps even when he entered his two-hundredth year, he would not forget. A young, strapping elf of ninety like himself was quite desirable if he recalled.

The tavern door opened and closed, yet nobody stopped their merriment.

Only Halfas did, raising a mischievous brow at his new neighbor.

"Fancy meeting you here, old friend~" he drawled, soon downing a mug of ale with little issue. He was an elf, but he was not a light-weight by any measure~.

"How's your end of the city?" his neighbor said, cutting straight to business.

"Not even time for a little chat, Meltraus?" he teased. "I wonder if young Melhia misses me?"

"The day she misses you will be the day my arms fail me," he shot back, and wasn't that a scary thought? Even in his age, the old human was far stronger than many of his species. "Don't change the subject. How's your end?"

Halfas' teasing smile faded and apathy took his place.

"Same as every other district. Adventurers are causing ruckuses, ignoring their fellow men around them. Why I've seen some scare children away," he replied. "Honestly, the more I look at our former protectors, the more I see the desperate children that young Ferlna spoke of."

"How long until…"

"The end of the month, perhaps earlier," the young elf replied. "With how the people of the other districts act… they grow agitated. It is only in your district that they are amicable. Lucky, aren't we?"

Meltraus grunted in irritation. Oh? He's particularly touchy today, isn't he? "Did something happen today?" Halfas asked.

He snorted. "Something. That'd describe it."

Okay… something was unquestionably wrong.

"Meltraus, this is serious, isn't it?"

"The smith within me says so," he muttered passively, something that he never did. Meltraus? The old stern smith that opened up his emotions to nobody? Him, of all emotions, passive? "Something…" he rumbled once more. "… yes, that's all I can use to describe it."

He grabbed a mug, which the bartender wordlessly handed over. Meltraus would pay his tab, he always did.

"The boy failed to make a blade," he finally said.

"Not surprising, we all meet failure eventually," Halfas shrugged. "You failed your first mastery test, and I fail all the time! No reason to be so befuddled, now is it?"

Wordlessly, Meltraus reached from beside him – a bag he carried when he entered – and placed it on the table beside him. Without even needing a prompt, Halfas reached over and took it.

Whatever was causing his dear old friend, and he certainly meant old, to meander about in confusion was inside the bag. Halfas only felt around before he reached the steel fragment.

A single glance at it and Halfas frowned.

He never frowned, not on a festive night like this.

Slowly, all background noise faded from his notice, as it had likely faded for Meltraus the second he saw it.

"This is no normal blade," Halfas concluded.

Halfas was a blacksmith in name alone. He knew what a good blade was when he saw it even when his hands were clumsier than a drunken dwarf. He had a better eye than even most of the craftsmen race.

"This failed?" Halfas asked, even if merely to confirm.

At the old master's nod, Halfas sighed as he gently pushed the fragment back where he found it.

He could tell the boy was not ready. The blade, he had only barely attempted to make, was not ready. This was something they both knew, but from a cursory glance, any master worth their skill could tell what coursed under the blade.

A human could use magic, an elf was sensitive to it, and the boy could use it on his blades.

Perhaps the boy tried to use his spell on the still formed sword, but it failed. Perhaps he hadn't used any and this was simply the result of his skill, limited by the levels that all life on Theldesia were blessed by.

Whatever the case, the broken fragment was news.

Even as it withered away into nothing but a clump of failed metallurgy, Halfas could feel the 'potential' slowly fade away.

With time, that adventurer, Emiya Shirou, would be capable of a great many things. Surpass Meltraus? Perhaps in a year. Less, if he was diligent. That wasn't their main concern.

What the young smith could make… something that was only spoken of in myth. Myths from when his father was but a child in his grandmother's womb.

That 'something' could start wars, as it had between adventurers long ago. They fought over one of these items, and the Landers at the time could only whisper about the lengths the immortals would go through to obtain them.

The young elf sighed deeply and downed one more mug.

After all, it wasn't every day you'd find a blacksmith with the potential to craft a **Phantasmal-class** item.

* * *

 **A/N: Not late, for once.**

 **Thanks again to my beta for helping and pointing out flaws in the chapter and oversights I made. It really helped.**

 **Basically, I'm** **juggling lots of shit. I only managed to find time to write because this was my semester break. My time management is shit, mostly because I'm still playing three gacha games, got semi-back into DOTA 2 even when I dropped it a year ago, tried Code Vein for the customizer alone but discovered I'm dog-shit at playing it, and go and farm the new frame 'Grendel' in Warframe.**

 **Now onto something related to the story.** **Alchemy scene was basically almost entirely BS, but considering we know zero percent of what comprises the EXP potions and how alchemy is performed in Elder Tale other than selecting possibly ingredients and clicking 'create'. This was just my extremely fantastical spin on it.**

 **Aight, not much else I wanna say. As usual, leave a review when you notice an error or PM me if you have a question. I'll try and answer whatever I can, but I kind of want to enjoy the free time I have this semester break.**

 **Although, if you ask for me to update, remember this. I only update this story on EVEN numbered months, so I can update my other story on ODD numbered months. This is what I do, and what I've been doing for the past year. Just a reminder.**

 **That, and I got this as a PM:**  
 _"Hello!, Im young sexy cute single girl! I like video games and manga^^Im looking for a guy to have some fun with. If u want to join me google AGRIPALITA"_

 **Lmao, scam pepega. If I wanted to beat my meat I'd open up nhentai lmao.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Kappa.**


	15. Chapter 15: Hidden in Plain Sight

**Chapter 15**

 **Beta: Worldbringer of Joseun**

 **Cover: LousGndiner**

* * *

Night had yet to arrive. The sun had long passed its zenith and stood atop the far-off mountain range.

Waver took in a deep breath of his smoking rod, a distinctly separate feeling from his old rod, and let out a simple sigh. The smoke, which should've entered his lungs and caused a feeling of calm and contentment, failed to do so. The smoke entered yet he could not feel any change.

He supposed that this was one of the downsides of an Adventurer body.

Waver had left the Arcadia to get some fresh air, yet the semi-crowded streets of Akihabara did not give him any solace. The dread that permeated the air was both hilarious and sickening, but he supposed it was fitting.

Now, Waver leaned atop the roof of the Arcadia, which was built into the side of a ruined building. It appeared that every building had stairs that led to the roof, so he had just taken that route up. He could see the streets beneath him, but at the very least, none of the local populace's constant grumbling could reach him from up here.

Waver took in another puff and sighed.

"Heavens Feel… eh?"

 _The Third True Magic._

Waver suppressed the shiver that ran down his spine. Any second now he expected the sky to tear open as the dogs of Alaya homed in on their location, annihilating the island of Yamato as they knew it.

Yet only the peaceful city breeze greeted him.

Waver idly opened his inventory and dropped his smoking rod inside. The pipe wasn't doing it for him. The realistic feeling wasn't there. Much like the food they would eat, tasteless and lifeless.

He had clawed his way to a respectable position in the Clock Tower within a decade. However, he had not once forgotten his roots as a novice magus. The old him would have never grit his teeth and pressed on until he succeeded. The old him would only lash out at his betters in the pettiest way imaginable. It was from that pettiness that he entered a life-changing event.

The Fourth Holy Grail War.

He had no right to be in it. He was a novice with little to no experience, yet he had somehow managed to survive. He lived where his teacher, Lord El-Melloi, was brutally murdered with his crest ruined beyond compare. He was spared only through the whims of an overwhelming enemy, one that defeated his king.

The fact that he was the only one to return was what caused others to call him a victor of that war, but Waver had never seen it that way. He was a survivor. He did not know who the true winners of that war were, for he would argue that everyone there was a loser.

However, he at least knew who had won the Fifth one.

"This… has turned into a complicated situation," he muttered.

The very fact that the Einzbern heir had the Heavens Feel in any capacity, meant that they won that war. They had won the war that they had labeled a complete failure.

"Of course they'd call it a failure," he grumbled.

If they had declared their victory to the Clock Tower, then the following chaos could not have been contained. All magi were selfish. If one had heard what winning a grail war could achieve, then they would never know peace. Magi would've hunted them without end. He supposed that the fact Magi barely saw the war as something above a passing interest was a blessing.

But where does that leave them now?

They were proceeding with the Einzbern's plan at a smooth pace. The potion was all but completed and the citizen's outlook on adventurers seem to be improving with the appearance of Crescent Moon Burger. If looked at as a whole, there was no way for things to go wrong.

… _Then why do I feel uneasy?_

Something was going to happen, Waver Velvet's instinct as both a person and a magus told him so. But he couldn't tell exactly what was going to happen.

Waver noted the message he received from Illyasviel and dismissed it. He could head back down once the sun had set.

For now… he just wanted to observe the setting sun.

Shame that there wasn't an ocean nearby. It would've been a wondrous sight.

* * *

Illya took in a deep breath, considered what she saw before her, and sighed.

"What happened?" Illya suddenly asked. "We used all the correct ingredients, didn't we?"

"Were the ingredients faulty?" Rin muttered.

"No, I'm certain that they were the freshest that they could be," the ghost knight answered with certainty. "I made sure of it myself! The mana quality around them is at their peak."

Two hours had passed since Krentelfal left the Arcadia. He returned an hour later with Shirou, Sakura, and Taiga in tow. However, Rin didn't want to take a chance at the Fujimura's tendencies when she was bored and told her to wait somewhere else until they were done. So, she went and tried to find Lord El-Melloi II to waste some time.

That was ten minutes ago, but at present, they faced a new problem. They knew all of the ingredients for an EXP potion, but even then, the result before them was anything but. All their previous attempts could at least be called a potion.

This… This was blackened tar.

"Then what happened?" She muttered once more. "Are we missing something? We already know all the ingredients, but what are we lacking?"

"Maybe you stirred it wrong?" Sakura tried. "When you stir certain ingredients too fast, they lose some texture."

"Maybe add ingredients in a specific order?" Shirou asked. "Some dishes change when you add things prior."

"You two are pulling a lot from cooking, aren't you?" Illya berated with a slight frown. "Alchemy isn't like cooking you know?"

Shirou blinked. "Both have ingredients and you mix them to make something new. Isn't that the same thing?"

"Saying that my family's main proficiency is on par with cooking is degrading so please don't say anything further," the albino guardian finalized. "However, does that idea have merit, Ferlna-san?"

Ferlna nodded. "Mana interacts with each other in different ways. In a vacuum, it shouldn't change, but adding an Undine's tear to a Salamander's tongue would change many things."

"So we'll have to try separate ingredients in different orders?" Rin muttered. "That'll take a while, won't it? Better start now."

"Things aren't as easy as it seems, is it?" Shirou muttered. "Let me help, I can do that much at least."

"Me too!" Sakura piped up.

"Sure, the more the merrier," Rin said with a hint of a smile at her dear sister. "Grab a cauldron and we can begin work."

As Illya watched them all get up to work, she couldn't help but frown. It wasn't focused on her guildmates, they were all experienced in their own right and could probably help out, but what she focused on was the potion itself.

It didn't make sense.

Illya could accept that the world of Elder Tale became real and changed in various ways, but adventurer menus remained the same as they always were. You could still choose ingots and make equipment from it. You could still select ingredients and make dishes from them, as tasteless as they were. You could still decide on alchemical ingredients and make potions out of them, the order of ingredients be damned.

Idly, Illya tried to use her menu and make the EXP potion that way, but even then, what she got was blackened tar.

She was missing something… but what?

"We're back!"

"If I hear any more of her yammering, I fear that I'll go insane. For sanity's sake, tell me something good," Waver Velvet announced.

"The potion seems to have failed so we're going to try different preparation methods," Rin explained. "You can help by grabbing a cauldron if you'd like, we'll be here a while."

Waver furrowed his brow. "Failed? In what way?"

"Black tar," Illya answered. "It doesn't make sense to me either."

Waver simply tapped his chin lightly as he went for a spare cauldron. "You stay there, woman. I dread to imagine what your careless fingers could accomplish."

"Hey! I'll have you know that I'm not _that_ careless! Name one time and I'll back off!"

"The bridge we were crossing fell when you touched it," he mentioned.

"The souffle I was making burned when you turned up the heat too much," Sakura added.

"The chicken I was cooking burned because you touched the pan," Shirou dryly stated.

"Why're you all bullying poor old me," Taiga dramatically whined, but it wasn't without reason. Even Ferlna was wincing at the brutal verbal beat-down. "Is this what I get for taking care of you all these years? Ridicule and slander?"

"The truth isn't slander, Fuji-nee," Shirou said once more.

"Well, that's final. Fujimura-sensei, please don't try and help with the potion brewing," the Tohsaka heir declared.

Illya tuned out the sound of Fujimura-sensei's fake bawling and focused on the potion ingredients before her. Roughly a minute passed before the woman became annoyed with her voice and just watched them from afar. Hopefully, she'd keep her mouth shut so they can focus.

"Hey, Shirou," _or not._ "You're okay, right? That was scary, wasn't it? You could've lost your head."

 _Wait a minute, what?_

"Hold on, what?" Rin suddenly blurted. "Did I miss something?"

"It's nothing, really," Shirou tried, but a glare from his worried girlfriends silenced any attempt.

"I asked Shirou to make me a sword today–" Taiga started. It was better than mindless bawling, at least. "– and get this, the sword exploded! Never thought I'd see a sword explode. It was scary."

"Explode…?" Rin muttered. "Shirou, were you using your magecraft on accident?"

Shirou shook his head. "No, I can't make exploding swords. It'd be interesting if I could though… forget it. I was just trying to make a sword with Torashinai in mind."

"So, you tried to make Torashinai?" Illya muttered as she finally grabbed her cauldron. "Surprised you failed at all. I thought that making swords was second nature to you by now."

"Meltraus said that the higher the level of a blade you attempt to make, the likelier it is to fail if your smithing isn't high enough in levels. It makes sense, but I'm not too sure if I like the idea though," Shirou supplemented. It made sense, given he was used to creating whatever weapon he wanted as long as he knew what it looked like– barring a few exceptions. "Looks like I'll need to max it out before I try something like that again."

She supposed that made sense. The higher level you were, the better the blade you could make. In the same sense, the lower your level, the more likely you were to fail. Though, in the game, you wouldn't even be able to attempt to make such high-level weapons. You'd need the levels first for the options to be unlocked.

 _Heh_ , maybe they needed to be a high enough level alchemist to even try and–

Illya dropped the copper cauldron back onto the wooden table, startling everyone in the room.

"What's wrong with you?" Rin irritatingly asked, but that expression flipped into mild concern once she noticed her guildmaster's expression. "Something wrong?"

"… Not high enough level…" Illya muttered. "That's it! Lord El-Melloi II!"

The Clock Tower Lord, having only just begun brewing a potion, looked up in both curiosity and irritation. "Yes, what is it?"

"You're a maxed level alchemist, correct?" Illya asked.

"... That I am, but why would that–" his mouth stalled as his eyes widened. He resumed his brewing with haste. "I see, if that's true then so much makes sense. The answer was so simple that it was practically staring at us in plain sight!"

"Wait, I'm lost," Taiga muttered. "Did my story help?"

"It did, as infuriating as it is to admit," Waver Velvet declared. "Our Guild Master has already thought of it, but think of it this way. That Emiya over there could only make weaponry because he was a high enough level blacksmith to do it. Now, consider this, what if he wasn't any of those?"

Lord El-Melloi shoved the cauldron away and started adding the rest of the ingredients. Both Rin's blood and the Dragon's blood extract trickled in like a bejeweled fountain. "As your story told, a blacksmith without a sufficient level would not be able to make a high-level blade. At the same time, if you weren't a blacksmith at all then you couldn't make any blade. If you were a high enough level blacksmith then you could make any blade."

"That makes sense," Sakura muttered, still stirring her pot.

"Now, think of this," Waver said, adding the Faerie dust. "Substitute _'blacksmith'_ with _'alchemist'_ , and _'blade'_ with _'potion'_. Doesn't the black tar result make sense?"

Both Sakura and Shirou stopped their stirring and widened their eyes. Shirou frowned and put the cauldron away. "That means we wouldn't be able to make any potion, even if we knew how to make it, right?"

Rin silently growled in frustration. "And that means I won't be able to make it either. I might be of the alchemist class, but I'm far too low level." She only got the class recently, after all.

Waver added Phoenix egg yolks, and both damage and healing boosting potions to the mix. It was at that point that it would've transformed into blackened tar—like with Rin's attempt. However, that was not what happened.

The liquid rippled and shimmered, collapsing in on itself and swirling even without Waver's stirring hand, before finally settling into a very familiar shade of magenta.

Waver wasted no time checking it with his inventory.

He smiled.

"Success. We have ourselves an experience potion, the first one ever brewed by an adventurer's hand," Waver declared. "However, compared to what we learned about both blacksmithing and alchemy, this is but a footnote."

Sakura widened her eyes. "Is that so?"

"Of course it is, Sakura," Rin berated lightly. "If these rules applied to both of these subclasses, then it stands to reason that it works for every other subclass."

"This place is game-like in the oddest of ways," Lord El-Melloi II muttered. "To perform a task yourself, without the aid of in-game systems, you must have a suitable subclass and be of a high enough level. Such a simple concept, yet it is only now that people are catching on."

"People?" Taiga muttered. "We aren't the first to figure that out? But who else could've… Ah! Crescent Moon Burger!"

Shirou widened his eyes. "Chef subclass… You need that subclass to cook?"

"That, and a high enough level," Illya added. "Not just that. Perhaps my Berserker subclass is more than adding reckless skills for me to use?"

Taiga scratched the rim of her Wolf Fang ears. "My duelist subclass probably doesn't benefit much, right? It just makes one-on-one fights better for me."

"What if it made you able to force a one-on-one encounter?" Shirou added. "If you could limit the number of enemies to fight you, then all you'd need to do is worry about one enemy instead of several others surrounding you."

"Oh… that sounds cool!" Taiga declared. "One woman versus an army! I'll be the first in history to do it!"

"Cu Chulainn already did that though," Shirou mentioned. "It was a defining part of his legend as a hero of Ireland."

Taiga blinked. "Who?"

"Ignore that for now," Illya ordered. They'd get sidetracked at this rate. "What we know could very well change reality for adventurers as we know it. Under no circumstances should you reveal this to any other player, got it?"

This information would change everything. That much was undeniable. If the other players figure it out then they ran the risk of losing their potential monopoly on EXP potions, not that they had one at the moment but Illya would be getting rid of Hamelin soon.

The Villain in Glasses must've known this trick, but he was telling nobody about it. Or rather, he's only told the Crescent Moon Alliance. However, now that Illya knew this secret wasn't limited to food, she couldn't help but worry.

What machinations did he have running in the background? What if he had plans occurring this very second?

People would figure out the trick eventually, there wasn't a single doubt in her mind about that, but until then they needed to take advantage of it… Just like the Tea Party's Shiroe is doing.

"Lord El-Melloi II, can you make EXP potions from your inventory alone?" She asked.

He had his smoking pipe out, she heard he liked his tobacco but frowned and put it away. "Yes, it should be possible. There should be little difference considering my subclass is maxed. I assume we are going ahead with the mass-production?"

"Yep," Illya declared. "Everything is lining up for us, but a regular EXP potion probably won't cut it."

Waver raised a brow, "Cut it for what?"

"The plan was to have a monopoly on the EXP potion trade, but we've run into a problem," Illya said as she kept her voice as flat as possible lest she ruin everything she's done. "There's another guild already selling these potions. You may know them as Hamelin, who get their supply from members lower than level thirty."

"Ah, that guild," Sakura muttered with a wry smile. Just thinking about how close she was to those human wastes made Illya want to tear their eyes out and make them watch as she cut open every orifice of their body. Unfortunately, their adventurer constitution wouldn't allow for it.

"Wait, does that mean everything's been for nothing?" Rin quickly asked. "We needed to become the monopoly to ensure the big combat guilds become our shields. All so that we can live a peaceful life in this city and have them act in a way that benefits us."

"We can still get them to become our exclusive buyers," Illya pointed out. "The EXP potion recipe was very flexible, wasn't it? What happens if we add a resurrection potion into the mix or even status immunity potions? The answer is that we'll have a much more varied selection for the big combat guilds to choose from. Hamelin only has standard EXP potions from low-level players."

"I see, that could work," Waver had a gleam in his eye as he contemplated it. "I suppose if that doesn't work, then we can undercut the competition by lowering our prices."

"And if we lower our price, they'll respond by lowering theirs," Rin added with a glint in her eyes. "But, if we keep up with the price lowering, eventually we'll reach the point where they'll be free. Normally, that'd be bad for both of us with no one making a profit, but we'd have a wider selection. We can force out Hamelin and make the combat guilds sign an exclusivity deal with us if they want our wider selection. We can raise back the prices as soon as Hamelin runs itself down!"

"That is assuming we can provide for all the combat guilds," Waver concluded. "We'd need a stable source of Dragon blood extract, Faerie dust, Phoenix Eggs, and of course adventurer blood. Any ideas?"

"We could always just purchase from the market when we need them," Sakura added.

"And let Hamelin realize?" Waver prompted. "If we enter the EXP potion market, they will realize that we can brew them on our own. They'll be stalking our every move… unless we set up a bounded field that specifically targets Hamelin members."

"I can do that easily," Illya said. "While Waver does his job here, I'll make a bounded field."

What Illya didn't say was that her bounded field would not _just_ target Hamelin. After all, others were looking at Hamelin.

 _Like the Villain in Glasses._

Was he looking at more than just the food market? Did he want to expand his reach to other ventures?

What about that Assassin stalking Hamelin? What if that Assassin was from another top guild? No, that made less sense. They wouldn't want to draw up suspicion and antagonize their own supplier.

What if that player worked for the Villain in Glasses? That idea made just a tad bit more sense, but not that much. The guy hated being in a guild, but it could work if that Assassin was just a friend.

But if it was so, then did he want to sell EXP potions too? Did he already figure out the hidden ingredient, and the potential gain in doing so?

Illya didn't know. So many possibilities ran through her head now that she realized this trick, this secret hiding in plain sight, but she couldn't pin a finger on the reasons. If she wanted to figure it all out, if she didn't want to fall behind the man's schemes, then she needed to do something… drastic.

It looks like she'll need to step up her game. Illyasviel Von Einzbern would not be left behind.

"Can you make a full stack of ninety-nine regular potions and a variety of modified potions before the end of the week?"

Waver simply nodded.

Illya, in turn, simply smiled.

 _Perfect._

Illya just silently snickered before she noticed the look on Ferlna's face. "Something the matter, miss Ferlna?"

The glasses-wearing researcher simply took off her glasses. "… Forgive me, but I did not realize that you were all children of merchants."

"We aren't though?"

"From what I've seen? I beg to differ," she muttered. "Talks of pricing and monopoly, you all sound much more frightening than all of the merchants in the city."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Rin interjected. "That just means making money here should be easier than in our old world," she frowned. "Or rather, keeping money should be easier without that ass of a priest here."

Illya had a feeling that the Lander withheld any comment she might have about the remark.

"Wait, does that mean a chef subclass can make food with taste?" Sakura muttered.

Shirou twitched. "Illya, how do I change my subclass to Chef?"

Illya made a face.

"Sakura, I'll tell you, but don't tell Shirou, okay?" the Wolf Fang Guardian ignored her dear brother. "I like the fact we have a personal blacksmith to repair our equipment."

"Illya!?"

"Understood, guild master!"

"Sakura!? Hey!"

"I honestly don't care who cooks between the two of you, so give it your best Sakura!"

"Fuji-nee, you too!?"

* * *

Sakura sighed in content as she watched the buttered toast slowly cook itself.

Her cooking skill, after she had learned how to obtain it from Illya, much to Shirou's dismay, had taken the few levels her apprentice subclass accumulated. This meant she had more levels than a beginner.

However, while more than others just starting, it still wasn't enough for the more traditional dishes she had in mind. As such, she decided to start light with eggs and toast.

Sakura loved the fact that Illya had upgraded their guild room overnight. As it looked now, there were two distinct bedrooms. One for female tenants with four beds, and another for male tenants, but that one had two spare beds leftover. Of course, they had a bathroom in each of those rooms.

Then there was also the living room which was linked with the kitchen, which sort of made it a dining room too. Not much space for six people but they made it work. They had enough chairs now.

Her stomach growled at the thought of something that tasted like breakfast, especially after a solid month of eating nothing but apples to satisfy her palette. She had to spend the entirety of last night burning through ingredient items to make tasteless food via her in-game menu, as much as she hated that, to raise her level quickly.

Illya mentioned that they were low on ingredient items, so she was planning to send out Krentelfal again to gather them. Sakura worried that her guild master was overworking the poor old ghost… but then again, he was dead. Did that mean he couldn't be overworked?

Her subclass, now as a Chef, was only at level ten. Not high at all since the maximum level for subclasses was a hundred, but she was steadily gaining EXP even as she cooked. She was level eleven now!

… but it might take a few hours of bread toasting to make it level up again, which wasn't ideal. Maybe she should try to find out what she could make at this level?

She shook her thoughts away and laid the stack of toast and eggs on the wooden table. The sausages were also done, Sakura had not forgotten that Illya had some in her inventory and that simply roasting it didn't require a high-level subclass.

"Breakfast is ready!" She called out to the bedrooms.

A sudden bark caught her attention.

Sakura blinked and smiled. "Good morning, Raijuu. Done with your breakfast?"

The pup merely barked and leaped towards her. It was a surprisingly high jump, seeing as he managed to land on her bosom and crawl into his favorite resting spot.

It wasn't even a few seconds before she could feel the little one settle into a now familiar nap.

Sakura sighed. "What am I going to do with you?"

Hopefully, she could go and visit the Bestiary today. The way her new pup acted probably wasn't normal. Then again, she never had a pet before. There was once a stray dog she tried to take care of.

It was just a whim.

When grandfather found out, she found its corpse by her bedside.

Luckily, she hadn't named it yet so she wasn't attached to it, but there was always a pang of guilt whenever she remembered its fate.

Sakura blinked.

Ah, she should probably make coffee for her sister. She was always lethargic in the morning. Did they even have coffee in this world? She hoped they did, and if not, then maybe they could try to synthesize some.

Illya was the first out of the girl's room… actually, the only one out of the girl's room. "Where's everyone else?"

"Asleep," Illya grumbled. "I tried to wake Rin up, but she wasn't budging. Fujimura-sensei was worse."

Shirou and mister Velvet left their room too, looking a bit tidier than Illya. Shirou himself was an early riser and mister Velvet was probably much more used to waking up early, being a teacher to give lectures early… which was why Taiga not waking up didn't make sense.

Shirou took a look at the now-cooling stove and pouted.

He pouted, of all things.

"Don't worry, senpai. I'll be sure to learn cooking for you!" Sakura reassured.

It didn't work, seeing as he cutely slumped to his seat. Oh well, he'll get over it. This was a truthful sentiment and not one stemming from the relief that _she could role-play as a housewife for once without Shirou cooking himself._

Mister Velvet looked at the food and then at the woman's dorm. "They're not awake, are they?"

Illya nodded as she idly started biting into the toast and eggs. Sakura smiled when she saw her shiver in happiness. Seeing people smile as they ate your cooking was the best feeling.

Waver sighed and knocked on the girl's dorm door. "Oi! Insufferable woman! Get up!"

"It's probably better that I do it," Shirou offered, to which the elder allowed.

Shirou entered the room.

"Wah!" was heard, followed by a thud.

"Good morning, Fuji-nee."

"… Why are you so cranky?"

"Is he still grumpy about not being able to cook?" Rin groggily muttered, probably from her bed.

Sakura smiled. This everyday banter… she never had that in that quiet mansion.

Shirou didn't bother to give them a reply as he returned to his seat in the kitchen… living… dining room? Sakura will probably just call it the dining room. A dining table meant a dining room.

By the time everyone took a seat on the table, a solid minute had passed. There wasn't anything said during breakfast, but Sakura was just fine with that. Everyone was simply enjoying the fact that they could have a solid tasting meal for once.

"Oh, by the way," Taiga suddenly asked as she brushed off the crumbs from her face. "Do you have anything for me to do, Illya-chan? I've kinda been wandering around the last few days."

Illya glanced away from her toast mid-bite and contemplated. "Well, we're pretty close to being done anyway. All we need to do is get all the potions ready… Ah, there is something you can do, I guess."

"And that is!?" Taiga jumped up excitedly.

Illya shoved her breakfast into her mouth and simply pointed at Shirou, Rin, and Sakura. "You see how low level they are? Grab em and level them up. Take the entire day if you have to."

"Hey, wait a minute!" Rin suddenly lurched as her sleep-addled mind truly woke up. "I was going to help Ferlna with her research today!"

"Did you make plans beforehand?" their guildmaster swiftly asked.

The slowly puffing cheeks from her sister told them all they needed to know.

Shirou sighed and nodded. "I'm fine with leveling up today. It's a weekend anyway so Meltraus closed up his forge."

Sakura let a small smile out. "I guess I'm not going to be able to level up my subclass today, aren't I?" It was a shame. Sakura had planned to spend the day practicing and experimenting with the local ingredients. Some of these spices didn't exist back in their original world, like Dragon Spice, whatever that was.

"You wouldn't be able to," Illya supplemented. "We're running low on ingredient items anyway. I guess you could use this chance to go and gather them. If you head over to the Imperial Garden Forest, then you should be able to kill the local boar population. They're all around level eighteen, right around your current level– barring Sakura's fifteen. They give a ton of EXP and drop random ingredient items, so good luck."

At the nods she received, Illya went back to eating, only to be interrupted by a slap on her back by an overexcited Taiga.

"Don't worry! I'll make sure they double– no, triple their level by the time we're done!" She cried out, at which Sakura could only laugh wearily. She had seen what Fujimura-sensei had done to push the archery club members that slacked off. She knew to expect an arduous day.

Sakura could visit the bestiary later when they returned from their grinding trip. That seemed like a good idea.

* * *

Krentelfal floated.

There wasn't much to do as a ghost. He had heard of his brethren going around scaring people for a quick laugh, but that had often gotten them consigned as monsters for elimination.

Granted, the old knight knew that being eliminated was nothing but a pipe dream for him now.

The vast amounts of mana he was drawing upon told him that.

Illyasviel von Einzbern, the mountain of an adventurer he had spoken to for centuries, had turned out to be a girl at the cusp of adulthood. While odd, it did not change his perspective on her. He had heard of, and witnessed with his weary eyes, female adventurers conquering what an ordinary man failed to.

Then again, Adventurers broke the common norm, as they had for centuries.

Krentelfal sighed from above the guildhall.

As a ghost, there was not much to do, sleeping included.

Every night he would watch over the city of Akihabara, which had barely changed over the centuries it stood for. He had once visited it when he was still alive, which was a wondrous occasion. The populace was kind and the adventurers… well, they were adventurers. Stoic and appeared almost like synthetic golems.

He had not an idea as to how modern adventurers became much more expressive than their brethren of ages past, but he saw it as a blessing.

Adventurers were warriors. They were beings who waged war against the endless onslaught of monsters that existed beyond every city's walls. For that reason alone, they were respected and admired.

The city's current situation was less so.

It was as if these people of the land had forgotten the dark ages. Centuries ago when adventurers had yet to exist, with both women and children falling to the immortal threat of monsters each day and every passing hour. He supposed that this generation was far too protected. The adventurers of old had done their job, almost too well. The people here never seen monsters and thus underestimated the threat they posed.

Ignorance is a slow and insidious killer, but he supposed that it would exist nonetheless.

Krentelfal focused on the rising sun and sighed.

Monsters would rule, then heroes would arise and quell the threat. Heroes would lose purpose without an enemy, and the people would cast them out. Without heroes, monsters would return, thus reigniting the cycle of death.

Throughout the centuries, Krentelfal knew this to be an irrefutable truth. It was as if life was an abhorrent game of rock, paper, and scissors.

However…

A tug from his endless mana source told him that his anchor had called for him. With nothing better to do, he phased through the walls and rendered his body invisible to the common eye. The rooms he passed were always empty, even the room his anchor was in unless he knocked on their door. An odd quirk this building had to be sure.

By the time he arrived at Illya's doorstep, she was already outside with a slightly wicked grin.

"Good morning, Krentelfal."

The knight bowed… or attempted to. Floating in the air made it a bit hard to do so. "A pleasant morning to you, Lady Illyasviel. I take it that we are to continue observation today?"

She nodded slightly to the side. "In a manner of speaking. Everyone's gone out to grind and Lord El-Melloi II is busy with my request. Now's a perfect time."

"Pray tell, for what?" he inquired.

"We already know what we want to of Hamelin. To take the next step for our plan, we need to make an impression on certain guilds," Illya began. "Our plans for today are simple. We find out where the combat guilds headquarters are. I have a few guesses but they could've relocated after the third of May, or the May Incident as the Landers call it."

She pivoted on her heel and beckoned him to follow. "Come on, your ability to phase through walls could be helpful."

"As you wish, Lady Illya."

In this abhorrent game of rock, paper and scissors labeled life, some people would pick none of the above and craft their path through sheer force of will.

Lady Illya might just be one of these people.

"Perhaps I should purchase that joke book from Lady Ferlna's collection?" Krentelfal idly wondered aloud.

"Wouldn't she just let you borrow it?" Illya asked. "You two seem like friends."

The old knight shrugged. "Mayhaps that is so. However, I find a personal copy to keep in my pocket to be much more satisfactory. Oh, maybe I should write my own novel instead and have Lady Ferlna publish it in her name."

"Why would you do that?" she asked with a raised brow. "If you wrote something, wouldn't you want others to know you wrote it?"

"Why, it's so I could be a _ghost writer_ , of course!"

A small snicker followed.

"You're slacking on your pun game, Krentelfal," Illya smiled. "Maybe next time. We got a job to do first."

A ghostly smile found its way onto his face.

There wasn't much to do as a ghost. In a way, these mindless errands were a blessing. At least it was something to do.

* * *

"One, two, three, that's a tree!" Taiga blurted out. "Four, five, six, it has a bunch of sticks!"

"Why did I agree to come on this trip again?" Rin muttered aloud to herself.

"It can't be helped," Shirou tried aiding. "Illya gave a good point. We are running low on ingredients."

"You just want to teach Sakura all your recipes, don't you?" Rin accused. _Yeah, that's right buster. I'm onto you! Stop smiling like that!_

Rin had truly wanted to help out Ferlna today, but then the midget – yeah she was going to keep calling her a midget even if it was wrong – sent them off to do some leveling.

Granted, Rin could see the benefit to it but she wasn't going to admit it. There were a few spells she wanted to try out now that she had a better understanding of the magecraft in this world, or rather magic. She still struggled to even call it that.

A loud bark got their attention. Normally, Rin would've jumped into a battle-ready stance but the smile Sakura had on her face as she played with her little pet pushed it all away.

Raijuu, as Sakura had named it, was a lot more active now they were out of the city. Instead of resting on her bosom, it ran around like a hyperactive pup, which Rin supposed it was.

Illya did mention that there was an anti-monster bounded field around Akihabara, so perhaps the dog was under its influence the entire time? The bounded field might have considered it a monster ever so slightly and weakened it a bit. That, or it subdued monsters in some weird way. She could never trust the books written here. The more she read about their spell-casting systems, the more she wanted to cry.

Rin, instead of focusing on Sakura's pet – she was truly happy for her having one, it would do wonders for her mental health as much as she tried to hide it – decided to focus on the road they were on.

Taiga, Rin would never call her that out loud for fear of retribution, had said that this was the fastest way there. The twin-tailed magus barely left the city so she had no choice but to follow her lead. Shirou certainly had no issue doing so, but he kept an eye out for any surprise attacks.

Being player-killed was still a big possibility, even if the act had dropped off in popularity in the past few weeks. Now? All they did was keep to themselves. Pathetic, really.

Then again, they only did so because the ever-looming presence of the top combat guilds was a big deal. Hell, the Emiya-Family planned to have these titans protect them by giving them something only they could offer. The other guilds could barely even compete in that regard.

"And here we are!" Taiga declared as she pointed to the large canopy before them. "Welcome to the Imperial Garden Forest!"

"I still think that's a redundant name," Rin commented. "Why call it both a garden and a forest in the first place?"

"Bah, naming things is hard. The developers probably didn't care about what they named it." Taiga tried answering. "However, don't focus on that. Focus on the boars we're going to be killing and looting. Don't worry, if you guys get overwhelmed, your Fuji-nee can take care of it!"

"Just make sure you lower your level so we get more EXP," Shirou reminded.

"Ah, nearly forgot," their former teacher muttered and promptly did so. From Rin's interface, she could see her level lower from eighty to twenty, just a little above the local monster populace. "You guys better drink EXP potions too. We're going to be power leveling here like crazy!"

Rin shrugged and did so. She only had two left from her constant experimenting before discovering the actual recipe, but she could always borrow from either Shirou or Sakura. They never used theirs so they had a surplus in stock.

"The potion effects lasts how long again?" Sakura asked.

"Two hours, if I remember correctly," Taiga supplemented. Did both of them forget we could look in the item description? "Now, since it's like ten in the morning, we can grind for two hours and then take a snack break. Then, use up three more potions and grind even more!"

"Three more–" Shirou blurted out. "That's six hours, right? That sounds… doable? What do you guys think?"

Rin shrugged. "By looking at my class' abilities, an endurance run isn't exactly my cup of tea, but I can do it. I'll need to be more careful with my mana usage though."

Sakura just nodded, followed by a bark from her dog.

"Great!" the Wolf Fang Samurai cheered. "Well, without further ado, let's get–!"

Rin widened her eyes.

Shirou noticed and grabbed his former guardian to duck behind a tree. Rin and Sakura quickly followed suit behind them.

"Hold on, what's gotten into you guys!?" Taiga tried shouting, but Shirou was muffling her voice.

With extreme haste, Rin threw a wind-stone, an apt replacement for gemstones, and let the spell within activate. All around them wind surged for but a moment before settling. She reached out hesitantly, wondering if her spell failed, but smiled once she felt the breeze around them.

"We should be free to talk now," Rin informed them. "The wind around us should prevent sound from escaping and distort the surrounding light to keep us hidden."

"Seriously, what's going on?" Fujimura-sensei asked once more. "Why are we hiding?"

Shirou simply pointed to the forest entrance.

Rin didn't have to see their resident baby-sitter's reaction to know what she thought.

A few adventurers walked out whilst they kept a vigilant eye around them. One of them appeared to be a Foxtail Assassin and the other was a Wolf Fang Swashbuckler. After noticing the lack of other players, they made a motion towards the dark forest.

A wooden caravan suddenly appeared from the dark entrance of the forest. The wheels were rickety yet somehow stable. In front were a few horses pulling the cumbersome load. It was covered in gray cloth so they couldn't see what was underneath, but they didn't need to.

Adventurers were walking around the cargo but since they were all so relaxed, they wouldn't be able to find them. Even if they were actually looking for them, they wouldn't be able to perceive them with the pseudo bounded field in play.

Unfortunately, they couldn't hear them either. The barrier of wind prevented sound from getting out but also prevented it from getting in. A flaw in the spell that Rin would need to work out somehow.

Rin shook the thought away and focused on the caravan slowly leaving. However, the caravan stopped when an adventurer walking behind it shouted something. Several surrounding adventurers went to him and entered the cargo area.

In doing so, the flaps unveiled for but a second, allowing them a mere glimpse inside.

"What's inside…?" Taiga muttered.

"Boars with vegetation on their backs," Shirou concluded. He must've reinforced his eyesight beforehand because Rin could barely tell what it was. "They captured monsters."

"What!?" Their resident samurai shouted. Soundproofing was a blessing. "But why would they do that…?"

"Because they need them," Sakura surprisingly answered. "I recognize a few of the adventurers there. They're from the Crescent Moon Alliance."

It clicked in her head. Rin frowned as a result. "Crescent Burger… I see, then these must be the ingredient gatherers."

"But why capture them live?" Taiga muttered. "They still drop meat when you kill them. Isn't this a bigger pain to deal with?"

"A chef doesn't just cook ingredients, but prepares them too," Shirou muttered. "The chefs could be preparing the meat themselves. If they butcher the boar then maybe they'll be able to get much more meat? It'd have to be more than what they normally drop if they're going through _this_ much trouble for it."

"That's just crazy," Taiga said in disbelief. "All that for a burger? It's tasty, don't get me wrong, but isn't this excessive?"

"With how many adventurers in Akihabara that haven't had a decent meal in a month, I'd wager it isn't," Rin said. "Their stocks will plummet if they don't have a constant supply of meat. It makes sense in the long run if they want to keep making a profit."

The only question was… what did they need that money for?

It was just now that the thought crossed her mind. Sure, they figured out how they were making food with taste from Taiga's story of Shirou's failed forging, but this was different. They learned how they made it and where they got their ingredients, but they didn't know why they were selling it or what their overall goal was.

"They're leaving now," Sakura muttered as she rubbed Raijuu's chin. "A boar must've made a fuss inside the caravan."

When the caravan was out of sight, Rin deemed it safe to drop the barrier by injecting the wind-stone with her mana.

"We should tell Illya about this," Shirou suggested. "This seems like something she'd want to know."

"I'll send a message to her," Sakura said with her menu already opened.

"We should probably change our leveling location too. There's a chance that they have guild members still in the forest," Rin added. "I don't know if they're friendly or not, but judging from how cautious they were, they want to keep this a secret."

Shirou frowned. "Did Illya reply yet?"

Sakura nodded. "She said to leave it alone and change locations. There's another forest nearby but the monster population there have a minimum level of twenty."

Rin shrugged. "Harder monsters, but they'll be a lot safer than this place. Let's get a move on."

"What a way to start the day," Taiga muttered. "You guys already drank a potion and the _Shattered Wood Forest_ is ten minutes away."

"Then all the more reason to hurry up," Shirou said with a wry smile. "Come on, we don't have all day."

With a renewed goal, they left the Imperial Garden Forest.

They could have stayed, but the Crescent Moon Alliance had several members, with multiple matching Taiga's level. If they ended up in a fight, they were the ones who were going to lose. Numbers, as Illya would put it, meant everything in a world like this. As much as she didn't want to, Rin was inclined to agree.

However, before leaving, Rin dropped a small sculpture of a bird.

When they were far enough, the Tohsaka Magus activated the mana left within, causing the sculpture to come to life and fly into the forest canopy. It was a small thing so it would only drain a little mana. It wouldn't get in the way of their leveling.

Even if Illya told them to leave it alone, Rin was a magus at heart. The small familiar will let her see what's going on in that forest, and that's all that mattered.

Curiosity was a dangerous thing to indulge.

* * *

 **A/N: So, this chapter is on time but a bit short. Unfortunately, if I lengthened it then I wouldn't have been able to stop until I found a good spot to end it, and that'd be bad because Mr. Beta is going on vacation on the 25th with his family, which means he wouldn't have been available to quality check. I don't like submitting without quality checking, but don't blame him. Everyone needs a break.**

 **As you can see, a lot of what I set up is coming to fruition in this arc. I'll be rocking the boat next chapter so that means February. I did decide to take a faster pace, like with my main story, for this one and I think it worked out. But then again, the previous chapters were meant to set up a lot of things so this is probably expected.**

 **Onto something else, Lostbelt 5 came out. I played it over the course of two nights because I'm busy during the day. It was great, not gonna spoil the events there for the NA fans, but I'm excited for part 2 of it. Orion tho, he's a beast of a servant... which makes sense because he was the Grand Archer– we would have had Grand Archer in our Chaldea if Artemis hadn't hijacked his Saint Graph. Gott damn.**

 **There isn't much else to say so I guess it's the usual. Leave a review if you noticed some errors and I'll try and address is... unless I forgot. I'm notoriously bad at remembering important things. Until next time,**

 **Kappa**

 **A/N 2: Grammar errors burned my eyes.**


End file.
